Search All of the Alaskan Sky for You
by Juliet's Shadow
Summary: Annie ran away from home at sixteen after the murders of her two best friends. Finnick is afraid to love after the deaths of all those he cared about. When serial killers and domestic violence are discovered in the town of Panem, Alaska, no one is safe. A modern day AU told from Finnicks POV
1. Chapter 1

Chapter 1- December 12th, 2019 10:04 PM

Nothing interesting happens in Panem. Nothing. One time we had a beached whale and the whole community came and shoved it back into the frigid waters of the Pacific. Nothing has happened since. We are a small town in the state of Alaska, on the edge of the coast, too far north for anyone to want to come to. I work in the police department and am focused on becoming a detective. My roommate, Peeta, has similar goals to me. Because of this, they put us as partners on cases together often; I typically end up doing all the questionable cases though, because he has something to come back to, his girlfriend, Katniss. I don't mind because she makes him happy. My other roommate, Gale, has a girlfriend too, a loudmouthed smart-ass one named Johanna. The five of us grew up here, went to college close by and all moved back. Not going to be a shock when none of us ever leave again. Nothing interesting happens.

Then I notice there is a crumpled heap on the side of the road. I flash my headlights, so if it's alive, it'll move. It doesn't. It's black and navy, probably a bag of some sort. I sigh and get out of my car and slam the door harder than necessary. I hate having to deal with the random crap people leave in the side of the road. Litter is useless. People who litter would probably say cars as disgusting as mine are useless, though. Having random paper products from various straw wrappers is apparently a sin.

I grab a flashlight and turn it on in the cold, crisp December night. The strong blue light is blinding, but it illuminates everything. There is a layer of stark white snow up to my knees. I think little of it when I see crimson spots. A wolf of some sort probably killed a rabbit. The heap on the side of the road is covered in a blanket, and a layer of sparkling ice.

I remove the blanket, it crunches in between my black leather gloves, and there is a girl. She has damp hair that looks like when it's dry; it is sort of a dark brown color. Her cheeks are flushed bright red from the cold, but the edges of her lips are starting to turn blue, as are the tips of her fingers. The crimson spots lead up to her. "Who could have done this to you?" The wounds in her leg didn't come from an animal. It's a long jagged gash, surrounded by copper colored dust that can only be rust. Her forehead is wounded similarly. Her cheeks are gaunt and I could count her ribs if I wanted.

The only other time I've seen an awful wound is when, while Peeta and I were chasing a minor burglar, the burglar jumped a fence by scaling the sides of a wood chipper. Peeta quickly followed. I didn't have time to tell him not to climb before he slipped, and his leg was caught. The criminal got away. I could hear Peeta's screams. Everyone in Panem could hear his screams. I had to tourniquet what little was left of his leg, if you could still call it that. It was a mound of pink flesh, ground finely mixed with white chips of bone. Tendons and ligaments were peering though. Katniss was part of the emergency response team that picked him up in the ambulance. After he was gone, I went behind a bush and vomited until there was nothing left for me to throw up. It's why he has a fake leg now. That day scared me more than anything else in the world. Looking down at this girl was thirty times worse.

I pick her up right away and place her in the backseat of my car. I feel her wrist, check her pulse –it's beating, just barely- turn on my lights, and drive as fast as I dare on the deadly icy roads.

I get further into town and see the twinkling lights of the Hospital come into view. I pick up my black walkie talkie radio and press the button. "Officer Odair coming in. I have an injured girl, near death, in my car. If I could please get assistance and an emergency team ready to respond it would be greatly appreciated. I am about to pull into the ambulance loading zone."

I hear some static from the radio and hear reassuring words. "Officer Odair, we hear you. This is Emergency Response Nurse Everdeen. We are going to send Doctor Cinna out with Nurse Hawthorne."

Katniss and Gale both work at the hospital. Katniss is an emergency response nurse and Gale is currently a nurse, though he is studying to become a doctor, and has been ever since he graduated. He didn't stay at college though because the rest of us were moving back to Panem.

I glimpse into my rearview and see the girl's quick and shallow breaths through her damp, thin blue t-shirt. I see her forehead and leg dyed crimson with blood. "Come on, stay with me."

I pull into the dock where Cinna and Gale are waiting with a gurney. I should've called an ambulance, but any more time lapsed and that girl would have certainly frozen to death. The three of us get her crumpled, broken body onto the gray blue gurney and I watch as they push her into a room where she is sure to be taken care of. I go outside and vomit. I vomit until there is nothing left in my stomach. The sight, the smell, the screaming, the lack of. I became a cop because I thought I wouldn't have to deal with this. Gale could muster the courage to face these torturous scenarios. I feel a hand on my back and they start rubbing in circles. Once I am certainly done barfing, the hand leads me inside and pats me on the shoulder. "Don't worry, Fin. It'll be all right."

I shrug and turn to the hand. Katniss is there offering what little reassurance she can. The look in her storm cloud eyes pray for safety, but she saw what the girl looked like. She'd be lucky to last the night. "Yeah, whatever. This isn't what I needed."

Katniss shrugs. "Know what you mean. Want me to call Peeta? He's better at this sort of thing." She doesn't wait for me to respond. I simply go retire to a chair in the waiting room. Katniss soon joins me with a cup of hot chocolate, a dinner roll and a plaid green fleece blanket that is reserved for patients. She lays it across my shoulders. "Hey, they'll do everything they can. You can go ask her questions when they're done. You don't have to stay up and wait."

"Yeah I do." Katniss gives me a quizzical look. "It's- I just- I want to know if she's alright. If she is, I can sleep soundly and interview her when she's well but if she isn't…" I trail off and take a drink from my coco.

Katniss puts a hand on my knee. "Shouldn't blame yourself. She would've died for sure, if you didn't find her." We sit there in awkward silence for a few moments before we hear the door of the waiting room open. I glimpse up to see a messy pale blonde head. The sound of uneven footsteps confirms it's him. One light as a feather, the other is like metal, hitting concrete. My fault that happened. If I had unplugged that stupid wood chipper.

"Katniss told me you found a girl?" I say nothing. I just feel my heartbeat in my chest. I've never acted this way before. Why start now? "Is she hot?" I allow myself a small chuckle. Peeta can always dissolve tension.

"I'm sure she is. I didn't get a good look at her. I was too busy trying to save her life." Peeta nods and shrugs. "Guess I'll have a new case when we go in tomorrow." Peeta nods and rips off a piece of the dinner roll Katniss brought me and dunks it in my hot chocolate. I can see the bread soak up the brown coco and turn it an ugly shade of brown. "Dude, that's disgusting."

Peeta laughs. "That's what I said to you when you tried to put French fries in a milkshake. Come on, try it." I shrug and rip off a chunk and dip it in. It tastes, despite the appearance, pretty good.

"Thanks man."

"Anytime." We pass another half hour in silence. I'm silent. Katniss and Peeta are sneaking kisses in between Doctor Who commercials. Nerd love. Time passes slowly when one is waiting. Finally Gale walks out, running his hand through his dark brown hair.

"I'm sorry, Fin." I take a deep breath. She's dead. I knew it. I was too slow. "There is nothing we can do to fix your face."

I let out a breath. "You're an ass Gale Hawthorne."

Gale is smiling. "Just trying to lighten the somber mood in here. No one died, we're all good here."

I perk up. "Is she awake? Can I go talk to her?"

Gale holds me back. "Sorry dude, past visiting hours, and Doctor Cinna gave her some meds that will put her to sleep. That girl is past exhaustion." I slump back into the chair. "Hey, we can all go home now though. Peeta, you take Katniss home in the cop car and I'll take Finnick home in the Tundra. He's in no state to drive. We can have a guy's night at the house, if that's okay with you Katniss."

She lets out a laugh. "Yeah. Peeta, just drop me off at the station. Johanna got the late shift tonight too." Peeta laughs and they walk out the door.

I shrug the blanket off and leave it crumpled in the chair next to the cream colored hot coco mug I drank out of. We climb into the dark gray Tundra and drive off. I brace myself for a night of action movies.

**A/N: Howdy! I've had this idea stuck in my head for a while now and finally have it to a point where I think it is ready to be put into words. I will still continue with my story Ugly but I will be keeping up with both. This story, if I keep is as I have planned out is going to be 16 plus chapters. I have currently planned out that much.**

**"When he shall die,  
Take him and cut him out in little stars,  
And he will make the face of heaven so fine  
That all the world will be in love with night  
And pay no worship to the garish sun" **

**I love this quote from Romeo and Juliet and it inspired my name, Juliet's Shadow. I plan to incorporate it somewhere into my story, so keep an eye out for that ;) **

**I appreciate any support given to me and would like to dedicate this story to all of you lovely people who read it. **

**Please leave a review because it inspires me to write and update faster. Please and thank you :)**

**-Juliet's Shadow**


	2. Chapter 2

**OMGitsgreen: Well I'm very glad you are interested and I decided to have a quick update since I am so excited about this story. Please enjoy! **

Chapter 2- December 13th, 2019 5:30 AM

I hate waking up so early, but work starts at seven, and the traffic to the police department can sometimes take me up to thirty minutes to drive to in heavy snow like this. We all wake up this early, since we all clock in at seven. "Hey, you use up all the hot water, Fin?" I hear Gale call out to me in a drowsy voice.

"No I haven't Gale, not since we invested in the water heater that will constantly heat up water." I hear him let out a groggy grunt and see him walk down the hall with the battered brown towel he always insists on using.

I could hear the sizzling of eggs and smell the intoxicating aroma of homemade biscuits coming from the kitchen. Peeta never failed to make a superb breakfast for the three of us. His parents owned a bakery while he was growing up. He learned to make all sorts of delightful breads and pastries. That placed him as the designated chef of the apartment. My dad was a plumber…

I grabbed a stark white chinet paper plate and lined up behind Peeta. "Stop breathing on my neck, would ya, Odair?" I took a step back and Peeta added a sprinkle of cheddar cheese onto the eggs. "Viola! We are done!" He scooped a mound of eggs onto the plate and I shoveled them into my mouth. Peeta ate the eggs slowly, knowing perfectly well that it would piss me off.

"Hurry up, Mellark!" I am going to have to be assigned to the case involving the girl." He takes a bite of the eggs and savors it, chewing the bite more times than necessary. I bag up eight of the one dozen biscuits, leaving four for Gale, grab a plastic knife and one of the sticks of butter and shove Peeta out the door.

"Woah, Fin, cool down." I don't. I don't stop, I don't slow down, I get into the cop car and turn on the ignition. Peeta climbs in after me. "You not going to turn on the heater?" It didn't occur to me it was off. I let Peeta turn it on as I drive down the ice covered Alaskan roads. We reach the station early. I turn off the car and leave Peeta in there to gather his things.

Chief Beetee, a short, balding man with black hair and thick glasses, is in the conference room, setting up a power point and putting facts together. He looks up, his dark eyes planted on me. "Ah, Odair, suspected I'd see you here early today. You want that case on the girl you found yesterday, don't you? You also want to know if she made it through the night? She did." Chief Beetee takes a breath. "Odair, I'm not sure I can allow you to take this case. If it was just finding the girl, perfectly alright, on the side of the road it's one thing, but you found her injured, malnourished, obviously abused. I think I'd have to let the detectives do this case."

I run my hand through my hair. Frustration eats at me. I have to solve it. I don't know what it is that causes me to feel like that. I've never been so anxious for a case before. "Chief, please. I'm training to be a detective. Officer Mellark is also. We can do it. You can have the detectives overseeing us, but I know the most about this case. I saw the scene. I picked up the girl, took her where she needed to be. I saw the bones, the blood, the rust covering the wound on her leg. Please Chief, let me take this case."

The chief takes all this into consideration. "Fine, I'll let you start the case. If it proves too dangerous for you, I'm going to have to have Detectives Abernathy and Trinket take over. Do you understand, Odair?"

"Yes sir." Why did I feel disappointment? I got what I wanted. It was only common sense that Abernathy and Trinket would take over once the case proved too violent.

Peeta walks in the front doors just as I am walking out. "Where are we going?"

I smile; Peeta rolls his eyes and starts to the car. We climb in and play the first radio station that turns on, a random country pop station playing some girly country song and drive away. Within minutes, we are once again at the hospital.

Between the hospital and the police department, is the apartment complex where Peeta, Gale and I live. Between the police station and the apartments is the place where I found the girl. I can't help but look out the window as we pass. The blood spots and ice covered navy and black blanket are still there. It looks even more menacing in the daylight.

As we pull into a spot reserved for cops, Gale is pulling in. "Hey, what brings you two around?"

Peeta smiles. "We got assigned a case."

Gale smiles. "The ones about the girl Fin found yesterday? Congrats!"

I don't hear the rest of their conversation because I am rushing up the concrete hospital steps when I fall on my face. "Damn ice." I can hear Peeta and Gale laughing until I turn around.

Gale walks to me calmly and points at the ground. There is a puddle of blood. "Dammit!"

Gale rolls his eyes. "Come on, that'll need stitches." Gale then looks to Peeta. "Don't go interview the girl yet. I have to check on her first, and Finnick will pop a stitch if he isn't the first one to talk to her."

I probably should be offended, but I'm not. "Hell yeah I will."

Peeta smiles at me and pats me on the back. "Wouldn't dream of it, partner."

We walk in there and Katniss is putting nurses scrubs in top of her normal clothes. "Hey sexy." I hear Peeta say. She rolls her eyes and waves at him to come to the desk with her.

Gale waves me to a little room where he pulls out a needle and thread. "What's up with you and this girl? You've never acted this way before."

I shrug. "Wish I knew. I don't even know her name. I just know I found her on the side of the road and saved her life. That would probably be enough for most people, knowing they saved a life, but I have to find out everything. Save her and do everything I can to do it. It's weird."

Gale nods. "If I didn't know and better I'd say you were in love with her."

I give him a look and laugh. "I don't even know her name, and since when am I interested in love? I haven't dated since college. No interest. It's not fun since women just throw themselves at me."

Gale nods. "Tramps and sluts the lot of them." He cuts of the last bit of thread and ties a knot. "There, you're all good to go. I won't even bother telling you what to do because I'll just make you do it at home. Go get lover boy and talk to the girl. I'll go wake her up."

I walk down the hall and see Peeta and Katniss flirting in the waiting room. I remember the grueling hours sitting and wondering and wonder how Katniss manages to sit and watch all these people wait for their fate to be revealed. "Peeta," I pull him away from his girlfriend. "Gale is waking up the girl."

Katniss smiles. "Good luck!" she look me dead in the eyes, "I know you'll get the promotion you want by the end of this."

We walk down the wide hospital walls and come to a room. There is a lovely dark haired girl in the bed. Her eyes are awake and looking at everything and nothing. Her skin is dark and nose is a little big but not ugly, and her high blushing cheekbones and natural pink lips distract from it. She isn't as gaunt as I remember her. Her face is full and bright and her ribs, though visible, aren't as sickly as I imagined. Her face is heart shaped, straight brown locks cascading down it. At that moment, there was nothing more beautiful in the world. Peeta sees I'm saying nothing as starts with our introductions. "Hello, my name is Officer Peeta Mellark and this is Officer Finnick Odair. We would like to ask a few questions."She doesn't say anything. "Um… alright. Can you tell us what happened to your leg?"

A simple shake of the head tells us all we need to know. Abuse. I look at her, trying to not frighten her. "What is your name? Can you tell us that?"

She nods. "I, I'm Annie."

I smile. That is a lovely name, perfect for one as lovely as her. "Hello Annie. Do you have a last name?"

She looks shyer as she answers this question, unsure. "I'm Annie- Annie Cresta."

I smile at her reassuringly. "Well, Miss Cresta, we will be sure to take care of whoever did this to you."

She looks panicked and shakes her head rapidly. "No! No please. It was an accident. He didn't mean to. I- I asked for it. It was my fault. Please don't."

I look at Peeta warily. He nods. I'm close to getting this wrapped up. "Would you please tell us who 'he' is? We just need to know so we can make sure he doesn't do this to you again."

She looks down, her eyes forming a path of insecurities. "I don't know who cut me. I remember running. I find myself collapsing in a snow bank miles from my home. It wasn't my boyfriend. I'm thin because of him. We met and I was one hundred and thirty five pounds. For being five foot four, that is a lot. I'm finally pretty. He didn't do this to me, I did it to myself."

I glance out of the corner of my eye. Peeta is rapidly scribbling notes on a notepad. I am looking at this girl in shock. It seems impossible for her to be ugly. In fact, she'd be sexy, hot, if she gained back some of that weight. I have no right to say anything. It's her life.

We stay for another hour, not finding anything else we can use and decide to head back to the station to piece together facts. I can't wrap it around my head. I can't focus. How could she think of herself as ugly? "Peeta, I don't think I'll be able to focus at the station. Take me home?"

Peeta nods. "Sure thing." He turns the car and stops at our apartment. "See ya, Fin." I nod, and he drives off.

**A/N: Hey! I hope y'all enjoyed that chapter. The next chapter, a heads up, will be really short. It also has a bit of mature content but not too terribly much. The next chapter is also a filler chapter but the drama and experiences will pick up in chapter four. **

**Reviews make me happy and the more I get the better my writing is and the more inspired I get. **

**Ugly will be updated soon, so that is exciting. If you want to read an actual game, I would love it to be mine. Please and Thanks :)**

**Also, special thanks to: AmericaTamakiKyoya, who favorited the story, and NorCalGirl97, OMGitsgreen and firefoxxe who are following the story. It really means a lot to me. **

**Again, review please :) **


	3. Chapter 3

**Catching Fireflies: Well I'm glad to hear it. I tend to suck at summaries but... I guess some people were interested. Very glad to see it :) **

**TheWomanWhoCodesAndWrites: The problem I've been having is not what goes on with these characters in modern day (modern day meaning six years in the future) but how to write from a guys perspective. I usually write from a male perspective because I feel like there are so many more options with a story, but I have to stop and think, what would a guy do here? Weird considering I'm probably one of the girliest people on fanfiction (she said as she sat on her hot pink bed, in her hot pink room, in her hot pink shirt, with her new white sandals and decided to go jogging after she updated) **

Chapter 3- December 13th 2019 10:43 PM

I hate not being able to do anything. I hate the words that come from people when they try to tell you it'll be all right. "It's okay." "Everything will be alright." "There was nothing more you could've done." These people don't have a girl in the hospital waiting, counting breaths, until she loses everything. I hear the car pull up long before anyone opens the door. There is a gentle knock. "Hey Fin."

It's Gale. He has Johanna's hand in his and behind him are Peeta and Katniss. I roll my eyes and get look back at the floor. "Howdy." I hate the silence that has captivated the usually boisterous and typically obnoxious room. I can't concentrate. "What the hell do you all want?"

Johanna plops down on the couch next to me, putting her feet on the coffee table. "Well, hot stuff, we just wanted to know if there was anything we could do to help you. You've been out of it since you found the girl. You even took the afternoon off from work. You didn't even do that when brains here got his leg caught in a wood chipper. You've really got something going on."

I turn my back to her, hoping she'll leave me alone. "Hey, I noticed that you missed because it's my job to notice such things. Remember?"

"Go make love with Gale somewhere. Leave me alone." While everyone else seems shocked at the comment, no matter how obvious it is they grind every moment they can, Johanna simply shrugs and runs a hand through her spiky light brown hair.

"Plan to do that, but not right now. We aren't leaving you alone. You need help. Besides, Katniss and I wanted to know if we could meet this girl. We know who she is but we've never had a conversation with her. Maybe she is your soul mate and you are falling desperately for her!" She puts a hand up to her forehead feigning a damsel in distress, leaning back first over the edge of the couch. I don't even let out a small smile. "Okay, seriously Odair, something is up and you need to tell us what it is or we will force it out of you by any means necessary."

I roll my eyes and let out a sigh. Katniss sits on the opposite arm of the couch and Peeta plops down next to me. Gale grabs Johanna and puts her in his lap. The way they look at me, I can feel gray, blue and brown eyes drilling for the truth. "Fine! I'm trying to figure out what kind of sicko could've done that to an innocent girl. The malnourishment was her boyfriend. I don't know who that is. I've tried Facebook, nothing there. I've tried Twitter and she doesn't have one. Hell! I've even tried MySpace and that died out years ago. I've looked her up in the phone book, the internet and there is nothing. It's useless."

Peeta pats me on the back as reassuringly as he can manage. "We'll escort her home when Gale gives the okay for her to be released."

Gale smiles at me. "She'll be released within the next day or two. Then she'll need bi-daily checkups to make sure her forehead and leg doesn't get infected, so you'll be able to see her a lot then too."

"When do Jo and I get to meet the famous Annie Cresta? She seems like a character."

I look back at my hands. I don't know when Katniss and Johanna can meet her. I don't know if they ever will. I hardly even know her and after this case is closed, I probably won't ever see her again. "I don't know. It depends how long this case goes and if I'll even keep in contact with her after."

Johanna smirks. "So the dashingly handsome forever alone Finnick Odair finally has a crush?"

The room lets out a chorus of wolf calls and I put my head in my hands. "I didn't say that-"

Peeta jumps up. "Oh look! He's blushing! He does have a crush on Miss Cresta!"

I don't have a chance to defend myself before Gale and Peeta tease me about wedding plans and Katniss and Johanna sing cushy love songs, way off key, simply to tease me. "I am not in love with Annie. She's pretty, I won't deny that but she is just another girl. I told all of you, I am never going to fall in love and get married. If I keep up communications with her, it'll simply be on a friend basis."

"Wow! A guy friend zoning himself. I've never heard of that." Johanna looks at the rest of the room for a moment. "Let us take a moment of silence for our brother in the friend zone."

That is exactly how the entire night went, a bunch of teasing in my direction and me retiring to the kitchen to down a couple of beers before running to my room, showering and calling it a night. It took forever for me to fall asleep because most of the night I could hear Johanna and Gale screaming and moaning one another's name. I would've thought Gale would have run out of condoms by now.

**Special thanks to everyone reading this story! It means a lot. But I've had 118 clicks on this story, and 3 reviews? Maybe we can raise that number just a bit :) **

**Very special thanks to AmericaTamakiKyoya, Catching Fireflies and .3344 who favorited the story, and NorCalGirl97, OMGitsgreen, firefoxxe, TGPH and TheWomanWhoCodesAndWrites who are following the story. Each supporter counts :) **

**A very special thanks to my friend Mikey who is getting my first updates and pretty much revised the whole first chapter for me. **

**I am sorry for the quickness and lack of action in this chapter but I promise there will be some action and adventure in the next one. **

**-Juliet's Shadow**


	4. Chapter 4

**Anon: Thank you so much! I am glad to hear it :)**

**FallenPetals712: Hey mini! Glad you are reading it. Don't show this to your mom. :P I don't want to get chewed out for language. **

**OMGitsgreen: Hey thanks for that! I'm going to try to add in what he likes about her next chapter. I can understand the confusion **

**TheWomanWhoCodesAndWrites: Howdy! Finnick does do a lot of teasing, doesn't he? I guess it is refreshing to see a change. I can't tell you if he will see her after the case or not. Spoliers, but I can hope you won't be disappointed. I'm glad you like the male POV challenge :)  
**

Chapter 4- December 14th, 2019 1:06PM

Lunch ends at one every afternoon for Peeta and I. We have planned to spend the afternoon trying to interview Miss Cresta again. "What will we do if she doesn't answer any of our questions again, Finnick?"

I shrug, not even bothering to look into his piercing cobalt eyes. "She will eventually. It's just a matter of time." I keep my eyes trained on the road, being especially careful to not glance out the window when we get to the spot where I found her. I fail. Stark white snow has covered the crimson stains but there is still a slight indentation of where I found her cold dying body. I can't resist, and pull over. There is a tuft of gray sticking out of the snow. I pick it up and shake it free of snow to the best of my abilities, fold it over, hearing the crush of ice with each fold, and place it in the trunk.

As I climb back into the warm sanctuary the car has to offer, I am greeted with an odd look from Peeta. "What's that?"

I put the parked car into drive and get a quarter mile down the road before I manage to find the words to answer him. "It's the blanket Annie had around her when I found her. That spot was stained red when I got there. I almost passed that spot, assuming the pile was a bunch of trash, yet I stopped, and I found her. Managed to save her life, I guess."

Peeta looks back, even though the sight isn't in our area of vision. "Some sort of miracle, that is." I can tell Peeta wanted to say more on the subject, but our conversation was quickly interrupted by a ringing on the walkie talkie.

"Mellark, Odair, do you copy?" We can hear Beetee's voice over the intercom.

Peeta picks up the speaker into his hand and presses the button. "This is Mellark. We copy."

Beetee has a sense of urgency in his voice we seldom hear. "Head over to the corner of Cattle and Orchard Streets. Hurry. Abernathy and Trinket will fill you in on the case once the two of you have arrived."

"Yes sir." Peeta hangs up the walkie talkie and I flip on the siren switch. No sooner than the first blaring noise comes through, do we hear the music from my phone's ringtone. I know it's Gale because "Eye of the Tiger" starts playing. I know he wouldn't call during work if it weren't important. "I'll get that." Peeta reached for my phone and answered.

I try to remain focused on the road, but my mind keeps wondering what happened. "Grandfather? Everything checked out? Are you sure? Well, we'll still need an address for- Yeah, yeah. That sucks. Thanks anyway Gale." I can feel Peeta's downcast gaze focused on the fallen snow outside.

"What's up, man?" The sirens still wail and we're about a quarter mile away from where we need to be.

He is silent for a few moments before he finally says it. "Annie's grandfather checked her out of the hospital. They didn't leave an address or any way to contact them."

I can feel my frustration grow and I slam on the breaks. The ice makes us skid a good one hundred feet before we come to a stop. "Fuck! Dammit! What the hell? How the hell could this happen? We were getting so close! Fuck this! Fuck this shit! Dammit!" I let out more profanities and bang my hand against the horn, honking at nothing but the air.

Peeta sees I am in no damn condition to drive, climbs out the freaking door and makes me switch seats. We ride the rest of the way in silence.

When we stop, there is a group of barricades blocking a street corner. There are puddles upon puddles of blood, a person huddled in a corner, crying, wrapping their purple arms around themselves, long gashes in their stomach and cuts deep enough in their cheek to cause complete holes. It isn't until the person looks up that I realize it is Annie. Effie is wrapping her arms around the shaking and crying girl, trying to comfort her. Haymitch is looking at the puddles of blood. I decide to go to him first. "What the hell happened here?"

Haymitch runs a hand through his dark hair and tries to decide what to make of the scene. "This girl was check out of the hospital by a man who claimed to be her grandfather. In reality, he was kidnapping her. This street corner is typically abandoned during daylight hours, so he dropped the girl off here, got out a knife and started to beat her. He got another stab would into her leg, broke two or more of her ribs, bruised her arms up pretty bad. The knife then was stabbed into her face, causing a hole to go all the way inside her mouth from her cheek. No doubt in my mind the man intended to kill her. What the man didn't know is just around the corner is Trinket and I's favorite place for lunch, and we saw the show in just enough time to prevent him from killing her."

My fists are curled up into massive balls and I've dug my nails into my hand so hard blood was drawn. I don't care. Annie spilled so much more today. "Where the hell is the killer?"

Haymitch looks extremely pissed and I can tell from one look, the guy got away. "Sorry, Fin. We could choose between saving the girl, or catching the guy. We decided to save the girl." I can hear an ambulance approaching. "We called you and Mellark down here because we want you to escort Miss Cresta to the hospital and find out why this guy is determined to kill her. We can assume it is the same guy that cut her forehead and leg last time."

I look at him, hoping he can give me the answer I want to hear. "What about her extreme malnourishment?"

He doesn't tell me it's the murderer. I wanted it to be the murderer. "Domestic abuse."

I pick up a beer bottle on the side of the road and chunk it at a brick wall, when I see a shaded figure in the shadow. I can tell from one look, the blood on him, the smile on his face, the readiness to run, that it's our murderer. "Peeta, there he is!" The shaded figure runs, but so do Peeta and I.

**A/N: Sorry this update took a couple of days. I have been busy with school and preparing for finals, but only two more weeks :) **

**The next chapter isn't written yet so I can't warn y'all about anything, just know it'll be epic.**

**I hope this chapter didn't move too fast because it felt that way as I wrote it. Well, please leave a review and if there are any questions, please shoot me a pm. :)**

******Very special thanks to AmericaTamakiKyoya, Catching Fireflies, .3344, karen357 and FunnyPuffins1600 who favorited the story, and NorCalGirl97, OMGitsgreen, firefoxxe, TGPH, TheWomanWhoCodesAndWrites, Alexandra Jackson rocks Hades, Kaiya330 and all I need 22 who are following the story.**

**- Juliet's Shadow**


	5. Chapter 5

**Alexandra Jackson rocks Hades: Well here is the next chapter :) Thanks for all the support!**

**TheWomanWhoCodesAndWrites: I'm glad to hear it. We find out what happened to the man that did this to her this chapter so that's cool I guess. The man who did this to her (though it's probably really obvious) is revealed later in the story. I'm so glad you like it! Oh and thanks tons for being a loyal reviewer. That makes smile big like this :D **

Chapter 5- December 14th, 2019 1:49PM

I can feel my heart pounding in my chest. Each step is louder, harder, darker. Running like this is seldom done. We never have real criminals. Now we're dealing with an attempted murder.

I saw the man as he turned the corner. He's wearing black sweat pants, a dark hoodie, a dark beanie and his figure was tall and proud. He runs, we chase. He heads to town, so do we. Peeta notices we've lost the man first. "The snow isn't as thick on the streets. It doesn't keep foot prints."

"Come on! The other side of the street, on the sidewalk, by the businesses, the old man's got to be here somewhere!" I search around frantically, like a dog searching for scraps after a big dinner. Like a dog, I find nothing.

Peeta shakes his head and walks up to me slowly. "Hey, we'll get him Fin. We have to."

I fall to my knees, not caring about how damp and cold my uniform is getting. I had a chance to stop that sick bastard. I had a chance! He got away. "Dammit Peeta! How the hell are we suppose to do this? Just wait every day? Is this all we're going to do? Just sit around until we see this guy; until we find another girl nearly dead, or worse? No, Peeta! We have to find him now!"

I am screaming at him. I can feel the redness and cold on my face. "What? What Peeta? Is that what we are supposed to do? Is that all we can do?"

Peeta crouches down to my level, looking into my eyes, steadily with his calm blue ones. "Fin, I hate this just as much as you do, but this bastard tried to kill Annie before. He'll try again and-"

"So we just wait until he succeeds? Peeta-"

"Stop it!" I have never heard Peeta scream like that. Never. "Just stop it man. He's going to try again, but he's going to know how to get her. Someone at the hospital checked her out to him. I'll go talk to whoever checked her out and make a drawing of the man as a sketch artist, then we stay in the hospital, or someone does at all times, and we wait until he shows up. He'd have to come back to make a plan to get her. When that man shows back up, we take him into custody. Understand me?" I hate the logic and reason in his voice. He could convince the entire city to jump off a bridge if he wanted too. I hate how he can convince me to do the right thing so often, even when I am blinded by fury and grief.

After moments, I stand up, dust the snow off my uniform and take a deep breath. "When we find this guy, I am going to be the one to take him into custody. I am going to be the one to place the charges on him. If, by the time a trail comes around I am a detective, I am going to be the prosecutor too." I run a hand through my hair, spiking it up in a different way than it was just moments before. A different hair style, a different perspective. "How the hell could we let him get away, Mellark?"

Peeta doesn't let out a smile, but his eyes lighten up at the tone of my voice. I am not yelling, crying, angry or defeated. I am determined. "Odair, he didn't get away, he won't ever get away with this."

We start retracing our steps, walking back to the alleys we ran through. We walk back to the crime scene. "Do you think he's done this to anyone else, Fin?"

I shrug. "How should I know?"

Peeta keeps his head down and keeps walking. We walk half a block before he speaks again. "What's so different about her? You've never done this on a case. You never get flustered, annoyed or lost. You have the level head, the perspective, the way of looking at every detail and piecing it together; it's weird seeing you like this, acting like me, and me acting like you."

We walk in silence for a few feet before I say something. "Do you think, like, when you see someone, you can, like, fall for them or-" I close my mouth. "Never mind. I am not doing this. I am not going to let myself get close to her. I am never going to fall in love. I want to live alone."

"Why?" If anyone wants to know why, I usually tell them that it's because I want people to want me for more than my looks. I've told that to Peeta before. I can't tell him the truth of why I can't fall in love. Why I am too scared. "Don't tell me it's because of your looks. Don't tell me it's because girls throw themselves on you. Don't tell me any of that bull shit because I've seen you with a girl. You date for maybe a week and then she's gone. You let her go. You refuse to carry on a relationship and you have no reason not to."

The rest of the walk is silent. It is impossible for me not to think of Annie. I never believed in love at first sight. I still don't. I am not in love with Annie Cresta. I can't be. I just don't know what spell she has put over me to make myself feel like this. "Fin, you alright?"

We're coming into view of the crime scene again. Haymitch is looking at us expectantly. I shake my head at Peeta. "No, I'm not alright."

"Odair, Mellark!" We hear Haymitch's gruff voice calling for us over the sound of reporters and curious pedestrians. "Didn't catch him?" I shake my head. "Damn. Well, you two are off to the hospital. Mellark, you try and get a sketch of the man that hurt Miss Cresta since you can draw, and Odair, you go ask her what happened."

We follow orders and walk to the car. The hospital isn't too far away. Nothing is far away in a town like Panem. We get to the hospital and enter the waiting room. Katniss' younger sister, Prim, is there, as is her best friend Rue. "Hello Peeta and Finnick." The girls wear volunteer uniforms, preparing them to become nurses. Rue always volunteers at the police station over the summer, and she is good at it, but we don't take volunteers under sixteen at the station during the school year. "What brings you two around?" Prim comes bouncing up to us. She's a natural as a nurse. I'd trust her with even some minor wounds right now.

"Hey Prim and Rue!" The girls waved at Peeta as he went to the checkout station.

I look at the girls as they start to turn away. "Wait, I need you two to do something for me."

Rue turned around and smiled. "What is it, Mr. Odair?"

Prim was on Rue's heels, looking up at me with big blue puppy eyes. "Listen, there is a girl here named Annie Cresta. She was a victim in a police case. If you two hear anything, can you tell me?"

They both smile and nod. "Yes sir, Mr. Odair, sir. You can count on us." The two girls then disappear into the recesses of the hospital. All that's left is to wait for Peeta.

**A/N: Next chapter we are going to take a small step back in time and see a little bit of the past. I feel like that would help add character to all the characters. I am so glad to see all of you reading this! I've had over 300 clicks on this story, but only 9 reviews. Maybe we can up that number slightly? I am very fortunate though, a lot of stories this same length have 2-4 reviews, so I"m glad I have as many as I do. **

**Special thanks to: AmericaTamakiKyoya, Catching Fireflies, .3344, karen357 and FunnyPuffins1600 who favorited the story, and NorCalGirl97, OMGitsgreen, firefoxxe, TGPH, TheWomanWhoCodesAndWrites, Alexandra Jackson rocks Hades, Kaiya330 and all I need 22 who are following the story. **

**Let's try to sky rocket these reviews :) **

**Thanks a ton, forever and always **

**-Juliet's Shadow**


	6. Chapter 6

**Okay, before we get started, this chapter is going to be split up into four parts, four little short stories making up one back story. Part two does get intense, I had to take a break from writing after I finished at section, so a heads up. Now for review responses!**

**TheWomanWhoCodesAndWrites: Trust me, I was just as pissed off writing it, but it is vital in later chapters, I can promise you that. Just wait for it :)**

**Guest: Me attempting to convey real life feelings to this story. **

**Mikeyjacquez: Suspense? You know the entire plot line already! And who is this Katie you speak of? Glad I made you get an account ;)**

**Mikeyjacquez: And the biggest fanboy award goes to... joking! We shall see what happens to our killer in upcoming chapters**

**Alexandra Jackson rocks Hades: Hope you enjoyed your Fanfiction! And actually, that part didn't substitute for the games... that's the climax at the end. This is all just rising action (Don't y'all just love my terminology?)**

Chapter 6 (Part 1)- June 1st, 2013 1:54PM

Finished with sophomore year! Finally, we're juniors. Sixteen years old, can drive a car, ready to be free. Grandma Mags isn't going to be too happy when she finds out the plan Peeta, Gale, Katniss, Johanna and I have come up with. She wouldn't have a problem with us going on a road trip, usually, but we're leaving so soon and coming back late in the summer. I walk over to where she sits and get down on my knees in front of her. I look casual. "What do you want, Finny?"

Grandma Mags is the only one to call me Finny. I don't mind it from her, but anyone else, I would rip their heads off. "Um, Grandma Mags, a bunch of friends and I, Katniss, Johanna, Peeta, Gale and I, were all planning a road trip for the break. I would've asked you sooner but I didn't know how you would respond."

She pats my head with her wrinkled, but soft white hand. "Finnick, you're a big boy now. Years past, I would have said it was out of the question, but since you're sixteen, I trust you can make your own decisions."

I can't stop the smile from coming on my face. "Really? Thanks!"

She smiles and reaches into her wallet. "You need money? If you're going on a road trip, you'll need a card."

I shake my head. "I've been saving up for this since Christmas Break. I don't want to use your money."

She hands me her card anyway. "Go for it, Finny. If you run out of money, you'll have my card. You won't need to worry. Who's driving?"

"We all are. We all got our license and Johanna convinced her parents to let us borrow their huge RV for us to travel in. We're planning on driving all the way to North California. Shouldn't be too hard, considering how far south we are."

Grandma Mags stood up; she looked so small out of her chair, and gave Finnick a hug. "Be careful. I don't want to hear about you getting hurt. Understand?"

Finnick kissed his grandmother on the top of the head. "Yes ma'am." He started to walk to his room, but her stopped and turned around. "I love you."

His grandmother smiled and looked happy. "I love you too, Finny."

That was the first time he had said "I love you" since his mother and sister died. His father was an alcoholic, always drinking something. Finnick could remember their deaths clearly. He'd seen it happen in front of him, only four years ago.

Chapter 6 (Part 2)-August 23rd, 2009 11:14PM

Everything was filthy in the house. There were beer bottles everywhere and the smell of cat urine and cigarette smoke was everywhere. They didn't even have a cat. His mother was flipping through channels, not allowing him to watch anything, smoking a cigarette. The couch she sat on was gray, covered with dust and hair of some sort.

Papa drank a whisky, refusing to acknowledge the presence of his bastard son. I know I'm a mistake. Momma wouldn't be so unhappy if I never came around. She would be somewhere else, not being repressed by my horrendous, temperamental father. "Cora!" He scares me. My father. He beats me, tells me I'm dumb, and doesn't ever let me have a shot at anything. "Corra!"

Momma gets up off the couch and looks at him in his filthy white boxers. He never wears anything around the house. "What, Serrick?"

Papa takes a swig from his whiskey bottle. I'm hiding behind the couch. Momma and Papa have no idea I'm here. "Make me a sandwich, Corra." Mom shakes her head and retires back to the couch. "I said, make me a sandwich Corra."

Momma shakes her head again. "You can wait for a fucking commercial."

Lula comes into the living room, in the battle zone, carrying her stuffed bunny. She is rubbing one sea green eye, wiping sleep away. Her straight red hair comes down to her wait and she has a few freckles on her nose. I don't know why she, my five year old sister, is out of bed. I tucked her in and once she falls asleep, she never wakes up. "Mommy? Why are you and Daddy fighting?"

Momma shakes her head. "No reason, Lula. Go back to bed sweetie."

Lula shakes her head. "I can't sleep. I'm too scared and Kindergarten starts tomorrow."

Momma pulls Lula onto her lap. Momma smokes but she is sweet and kind and cares for Lula and me the best she can. "Listen baby, Kindergarten is fun. Finnick loved going there. He's going to a new school tomorrow too, baby. He's going into Jr. High. Do you think he's scared?" Lula shakes her head; her left thumb is in her mouth, her right arm hugged tightly across her battered pale brown bunny. They look so alike. My mom's red hair is slightly darker, but that comes with age. She has wrinkles on her face from age and smoke and she is slightly darker in color, but they have the same eyes, same nose and same freckles. My momma kisses her head and smiles at my baby sister. "If you're scared, look for Finnick and he'll be able to help you."

Lula nods. "Okay, Mommy." That's when Lula starts screaming. Papa is lifting Lula into the air, holding her by her ankle. "Daddy! Daddy put me down!" The terror in her voice and shrieking make me realize it's not just a game he's playing with her.

Papa yells over Lula's screams. I can't come out, he'll hurt me if I come out, if he knows I see the exchange. "Got enough time to comfort your daughter, but ya ain't got enough time to make your husband a sandwich!" Momma is screaming now too. Papa is drunk. His words are slurred and everything he is doing is wobbly. "Well what is ya ain't got a daughter no more? How 'bout that?"

"Serrick! Put her down! You're drunk!" My mother runs to grab Lula from him, but he throws her. He throws Lula out the wall made of a window in the front of our house. I get up and run. I run out the shattered window where he just threw Lula. Papa is holding my mother's wrists.

"Lula! Lula!" I shake my sister. "Lula, please wake up! Please!" There is blood pooling out of the girls head and her body is twisted in weird ways. It doesn't take a genius to know she is dead." I hold my sister's body close to mine. She is still holding the stuffed bunny. I take it out of her little fingers and kiss the top of her head, just as Momma did before. "I love you, Lula."

I hear a scream and look up. Papa is holding Momma's head. "Papa, let go of her! Please!" He ignores me. With a swift motion of his hands, my mom, facing the complete opposite direction is suddenly facing me. I hear the crack and see her body crumple to the floor. I pick up Lula's bunny and run.

Chapter 6 (Part 3)- June 1st, 2013 2:37PM

I pull up into Peeta's driveway and see Peeta struggling with two suitcases and an overnight bag. I grab a suitcase from him. "Thanks man."

I nod. "No problem." We pick everything up and load it into the back of my car, until Peeta sees my suitcase, more, what is sitting on top of it. He grabs the battered bunny. Bailee Bunny is what Lula called her. Peeta turns the bunny over in his hands.

Peeta's eyes fill with a few tears. He was almost as close to Lula as I was. She would want to play dress up games and we never said no. We would have tea parties with her and her and her bunny in Peeta's backyard, then put her at the top of his tree house, let her pretend she was a princess and we would be the knights, going to rescue her. Lula loved games. Peeta wipes away a tear and places the bunny back on my stuff. Everyone knows why I have the bunny with me. I even carry it in my backpack at school. I keep Bailee Bunny with me because it is all I have left of Lula. No one judges me.

We go into Peeta's house and say goodbye to his dad and brothers. The three of them know about the trip. His mother is running errands so she won't know he is leaving. We get into the car and are about to pull out when a familiar car comes into the driveway. "Crap, it's my mom."

"Pretend we're going to the library. You're mom loves it when we go there. You're father will cover for us. Shoot him a text, quick." I say all this in one rapid breath as Peeta's mother comes to inspect the car. She won't be able to see any of our stuff in the back; the trunk only opens with the key, which is in the ignition. "Hello Mrs. Mellark."

She doesn't waste any time. "Where are you two going?"

I answer before Peeta does. "The library. We wanted to read over the summer."

Mrs. Mellark looked at me with untrusting eyes and pulled Peeta out of the car. I can over hear their conversation. "Peeta, if I find out you are lying to me, you will regret it. Understand?" I can see Peeta nodding his head. His mom punches him. "Use your words. Understand?"

Peeta is speaking up. He is struggling. "Yes- yes ma'am."

Mrs. Mellark nods and goes back into the house. I gasp when I see Peeta. He is already starting to get a black eye. "Are you alright?" He nods. "Hey, man, if your mom keeps doing this to you, you need to call the cops or something. When she finds out what happened, she'll beat you. Are you sure you want to go?"

He nods. "My dad is sending my brothers out of the house for the summer too. They get beat almost as bad as I do. As soon as we're all gone, he is divorcing my mom and reporting her to the police."

I nod and smile. That's what I want to do after I graduate. I want to be a cop, so I can help stop abuse people like Peeta get. Who knows, I may even save a life.

Chapter 6 (Part 4)- February 22nd, 2014 3:07Pm

I'm living by myself again. My grandmother died just one week ago and I have to live by myself for another three days. Another three days alone in the big chilling house. Everything reminds me of Grandma Mags. The chair where she sat to do her knitting and the kitchen where she would make us sea food because she knew it was my favorite.

I hate living on my own. It's stupid. I can't think straight. There is never anything for me to do. I hate the depression I am sinking into. I know I am sinking into it. I have been for the past five years. I go to my bedroom and grab Baylee Bunny and hug her. I hug Lula. I need some comfort. I see the brown cardboard boxes sent to me to pack up my clothes. I am still a minor and cannot live on my own. I am moving in with Peeta. His father said it would be no problem. His father, as well as his brothers, know about my past and have become the family I needed. I appreciate that.

I just sit there on my bed, hug Bailee Bunny, and pray everything will be alright. I can't cry anymore. I've cried all the tears I had at the funeral yesterday. I just sit there, as if I am nothing, holding little Bailee Bunny. Holding my little sister. If I can recall correctly, to when I was seven, I remember it was Grandma Mags who bought Bailee Bunny and put it into Lula's crib.

**Okay, so I honestly was writing and had his father killing his mother planned out but I added in Lula and Bailee Bunny and pretty much cried when I went to kill her. It seriously messed me up. Mikey knows, he saw me go into Sociology kinda like... "what?" Well tell me what y'all think about Lula and Bailee Bunny. Was that the right direction to go with that? **

**Thanks to AmericaTamakiKyoya, Catching Fireflies, .3344, karen357, FunnyPuffins1600 and Mikeyjacquez who favorited the story, and NorCalGirl97, OMGitsgreen, firefoxxe, TGPH, TheWomanWhoCodesAndWrites, Alexandra Jackson rocks Hades, Kaiya330, all I need 22, Mikeyjacquez and cutegirlems who are following the story.**

**Leave a review and tell me how I did!**

**-Juliet **


	7. Chapter 7

**This chapter is a back story chapter as well, so it is divided into parts. The parts are shorter than last chapter, but there are six of them. This chapter has characters I have based off of people I know. Annie is based off of me in this chapter and Clove, Glimmer, Cato and Marvel are all based off of people I know too, so this chapter is very personal. The only difference between these chapters and real life, is the fact real Glimmer and real Clove don't die and Glimmer and Marvel aren't dating. Please take this all into account as you read this, because I am opening up a lot to you all. **

**TheWomanWhoCodesAndWrites: Couple more chapters but we will get there. I promise**

**Mikeyjacquez: Now you can see why I am in love with him and why I see him as Four.**

**Catching Fireflies: Thanks! I hope and can get similar emotion out of you here. **

**Alexandra Jackson rocks Hades: Yup! That was where it all happened for Finnick. This is where it all happens for Annie. **

Chapter 7 (Part 1)- December 14th, 2019 4:09PM

_Finnick_

I walked into the hospital, ready to see Annie. I had to learn why this was happening to her. I had been able to block out all feelings of Lula since I became an officer. I've had to; otherwise I crumble in my work. Seeing Annie makes me see Lula. It hurts. Everything in my heart hurts. My head hurts and I can't concentrate. I am too afraid to love. The teasing about me getting a girlfriend, that's to help distract me. They make it seem like I could get one, be the stable one and cause everything to get better. I can't. I could only be with someone more insane than me. Annie is perfectly sane. The sooner everyone realizes it, the better.

I walk into her room and am taken aback. Her straight, brown hair is damp and her big eyes are looking around, like a scared deer would. It's amazing how much one thing could hurt someone. Somehow, despite all of this, she has me trapped under a spell that refuses to break. "Annie, may I ask you a question." She looks at her hands, twiddling her thumbs. "Please, Annie, it's so that man will stop following you and try to kill you. He's the one that put the knife in your leg two days ago, isn't he?" I can't believe it has only been two days. They have seemed like a life time.

Annie looks up, her voice soft and scratchy. "Yeah. He tried to kill me. He won't stop until he succeeds."

I take her hands in mine, trying to make her feel protected. She's just paranoid. Surely he will leave her alone now. "How do you know he won't stop until he gets you?"

She takes in a deep, shaky breath. "He won't stop- he won't stop because I'm the one who got away."

Chapter 7 (Part 2)- May 23rd, 2013 12:47PM

_Annie_

Lunch and I am being the third wheel in my own car. I should be used to it. It happens all the time. I can't argue. Clove and Glimmer are the only girls I can continually count on to be there for me.

Looking at them and it is no wonder people fall for them instead of me. Clove is five foot, four inches, like me. Her hair is slightly shorter than mine, an inch or two past the bottom of her bra strap, and her bone structure is about the same as mine but she is so much more beautiful. Her eyes are dark, but still lighter than mine. Her hair is dark brown, almost black and always remains shiny. Her face is all angles, making her look prettier. She is so much skinnier than me. She is five pounds lighter than me, eight pounds lighter on a bad day, and her boobs are the same size, making them look bigger on her in comparison. She is gorgeous. Guess most quarter Hispanic people are.

Glimmer is just as beautiful. She is four foot nine with big, light eyes and thick, golden blonde hair going past her shoulders. Her bone structure looks more like that of a young girl, but it works on her. If she wanted to look more like a woman, she could cut her hair to her chin in an adorable pixie cut and be lovely. She is petite with a bone structure like Clove's and mine's, but her boobs are the same size as ours, looking amazing on her. I will not lie, I am jealous of them both; despite how much I love them.

Here I am, five foot four, only slightly taller than Clove, with dull, straight as a board brown hair, limp, going three or four inches past my bra strap. My eyes are the darkest out of all of ours and I'm wearing my glasses today, instead of my contacts. I've always hated my eyes. They both say I'm skinny, and I guess I am, but I have a slight tummy I can only pray to get rid of, even when I only eat lean cuisines for a week.

We went to The Golden Arches for lunch because Glimmer is in love with their chicken nuggets. She orders a twenty piece, large fry and a diet coke. For being so small, she eats like a truck driver. Clove and I both order six piece kids meals, me getting a lemonade and Clove getting a sprite. We take our orders and money to the window, driving up in my baby blue Scion. That's when I see the old man.

"Clove, I think that guy may be following you. He's looking at you and I've seen him, like, every day the past week, but only when I am hanging out with you."

She shrugs and digs a five dollar bill out of her book bag. "It's probably just coincidence."

Glimmer nods from the back seat, passing me a ten. "Why would anyone be stalking Clove? She has a boyfriend."

She and Cato have been going out for about five months now. I can't believe it has been that long. "Stop worrying, Annie. I'm certain it is nothing."

I nod and turn up the country music Pandora, smiling when Brett Eldredge's "Don't Ya" comes on. Sometimes, when songs telling a story come on, I can't help but smile. I love to think maybe someone will feel that way about me someday. That feeling increases when we enter the school and eat at our campsite outside room 181, the Drama Room, and Cato and Clove just make cute faces and eyes at one another, sneaking a kiss now and then.

Chapter 7 (Part 3)- May 30th, 2013 4:15PM

_Annie_

It is all over the news. There is a girl, dead, murdered on the day before the last day of school. I pull over and move to where a group of onlookers are. I am afraid to see who it is. Who kills someone and leaves them on the side of the road? I can't help but scream and cry when I see the pale, bloody, beautiful body. "Clove!"

Chapter 7 (Part 4)- September 26th, 2013 12:11PM

_Annie_

Glimmer and I pull into the Sonic furthest away from The Golden Arches. We can't eat there anymore. It's the last place the three of us were at, besides school. One can't avoid school. "Popcorn chicken?"

Glimmer nods and I order her a popcorn chicken, fires and a blue ocean water. I order a chocolate milkshake and a small fry. I hardly eat anymore. We turn up the music. There is little conversation between Glimmer and I anymore. We used to talk nonstop. I was much closer to Glimmer than I was to Clove, but it's so crazy, we don't know how to handle it. I turn up the music. "Pieces" by Gary Allan is on. Neither of us protests. We still love country. We get our food and we pass over a twenty and split the change. I nearly choke on my milkshake when I see the rearview mirror. "What is it? You alright, Annie?"

I drive out as fast as I can. "What is it, Annie?"

When we are a safe distance down the road I say it. "It's the guy who was stalking Clove."

We can't ignore the guy now. I pointed out he was stalking her. I think he killed her, but we don't know that. I saw him looking at Glimmer. "Annie, relax. You're just seeing things." She's been saying that since it happened, ever since we became juniors.

Cato didn't have to grieve and stay in the same place. He graduated and moved to San Antonio, out of the Permian Basin. I want to leave here too. I see Clove everywhere. We drive up to the school and set up camp and eat outside room 181, the same as we did as sophomores. When Marvel comes, I zone out of the conversation.

I dated Marvel for almost three months as a sophomore. Now he is going out with Glimmer. I told her she could when she asked; she just didn't believe me when I said he was trouble. I look out the window doors and freak out. "What's up, Annie?" A senior I call Sunshine asked. I shake my head, grab my book bag and the remaining half of my milkshake, and walk away.

I saw the man again.

Chapter 7 (Part 5)- October 4th, 2013 5:17PM

_Annie_

When I hear there is another murder, I almost can't bring myself to look. I pull over to the same spot as last time, H Street by the draw where all the water in the city goes, and take an impossible journey.

I knew it was coming, but I don't know why I screamed and cried when I saw Glimmer lying in the pit, on the side of the road in the exact same spot where Clove's body was found.

I can bring up my phone with shaking hands and send one text. I never deleted Marvel's number, so I owe him a text. He should hear it from Glimmer's best friend. "Glimmer is dead."

I put down the phone and cry even more, falling to my knees on the warm asphalt.

Chapter 7 (Part 6)- December 14th, 2019 4:27PM

_Finnick_

"I saw the man following me back in Texas and I ran. I grabbed necessities, four changes of clothes, tooth brush, toothpaste and shoes. I grabbed the heaviest shoes I had and grabbed my mother's credit card. I got to the airport and told her I left the keys in my car, in the counsel, and left the car unlocked. I told her I saw the man who stalked Clove and Glimmer stalking me. I told her I was leaving to Alaska and I had her credit card. She took pity on me, because she feared I might actually die." Annie was crying, shaking and looking fearful.

I had her hands in mine still. Hers were as cold as ice, feeling nice on my warm ones. I sat myself onto her bed and brought her into my arms and let her cry. I never knew someone could cry so much but she has a similar story to me. Two people she cared about died. She barely escaped death. The only difference is my father is in jail. Her killer is still looking for her. "Annie."

She looks up with her bright red and puffy eyes. "Yeah, Finnick?"

I place a kiss on the top of her head. "I promise not to let anything happen to you." She takes a deep breath and just hugs me. How did I gain this girl's trust in two days? "Come on, you'll feel better at home." She doesn't move. "Come on, Annie. I'll drive you."

She shakes her head. "Two more days here? I get beat at home."

**I really don't have much to say but thanks! I am feeling emotionally drained after this chapter so review please! **

**Thanks to: AmericaTamakiKyoya, Catching Fireflies, .3344, karen357, FunnyPuffins1600, Mikeyjacquez and cutegirlems who favorited the story, and NorCalGirl97, OMGitsgreen, firefoxxe, TGPH, TheWomanWhoCodesAndWrites, Alexandra Jackson rocks Hades, Kaiya330, all I need 22, Mikeyjacquez, cutegirlems and ChloeluvsTHG who are following the story.**


	8. Chapter 8

**Howdy guys! I am so excited for this chapter because it is the last chapter in this particular mindset. The next chapters are going to take place in a time jump after this one, so keep that in mind. I am so glad of all my reviewers and this story would not be possible without y'all! Note, this chapter is kinda short... sorry **

**Alexandra Jackson rocks Hades: Yeah, well, Annie will have even more reason to be distressed coming up, but glad to see you keeping up with it :)**

**Mikeyjacquez: I cannot wait for the big reveal on who the killer is. The abuser will be revealed soon, so nifty for that! I wrote this chapter like to did happen to me. Clove was Lauren and Glimmer was Candice, if you didn't get that. Then I made Cato Colin and Marvel... well he was "Ty"... it was a distressing chapter to write. I'm waiting for another character to open up so I may add you in! ;)**

**Catching Fireflies: Yay! Sorry I gave you shivers, but it make me happy to see my writing cause that to someone :)**

**TheWomanWhoCodesAndWrites: Well he hasn't ever been caught. He is very smart and clever and can evade the Texan police... Unfortunately... Well, he may never be caught. He may be caught by the end of this next sentence. We may never know, but I hope he is caught too. Luckily, the date of the deaths has passed and neither of my friends that I based the characters off of died, so yay! I also feel if an author can't open up completely to their audience then the story is lacking something.**

**FallenPetals712: Mini! You reviewed! YAY! Again, your mother doesn't see this and your brother can only if you give him permission. **

**FallenPetals712: Again? Mini, I'm sorry :( well I hope it gets better. Just so you know I kinda based Prim's character off of what I believe to be seventeen year old you... so don't kill me **

Chapter 8 (part 1)- December 14th, 2019 4:29PM

_Finnick_

I swallowed, afraid and cold, suddenly. I knew she was beat. Her entire figure screamed domestic abuse, but I never expected her to admit it. No one would ever admit it to a cop. She realizes what she said the same time I do. "It- it isn't often. I always deserve it. It's because I don't do what he wants."

"Who is he?" I look into her eyes and she looks away. She is closing to me again, just when I got her to open up. "Please, I won't tell anyone. I want to know as a friend, not as a police officer." She still doesn't look at me. "Please, Annie. I don't want to see a girl who has been through as much as you have been through to go through it all again." She still is quiet, but she is looking at me again. "At least tell me how you met him?"

I can see her sigh and try to gather her thoughts. "I met him when I was seventeen. I'd been living up here for roughly a year and had lost a lot of weight, averaging a bottle of water and one meal a day. I was trying to figure out where to go. I had been living in a variety of houses and one guy offered me a place to stay permanently. Being the desperate naïve teenager I was, I said yes. By the end of the month, we were a couple. By the end of four months, I was being beat, was underweight and was afraid to leave. Imagine you had nowhere else to go. What would you do? I just stayed. He only beat me when he was drunk."

I sighed and rubbed the top of her hands with my thumbs. "Annie, you could have called the police. They would have done something. I can do something now. Would you like to live with me? I am roommates with Peeta and Gale but I'm sure they wouldn't mind. Or you could move in with their girlfriends, Katniss and Johanna. I'm certain they wouldn't mind. I just don't want you to be getting hurt anymore."

She kept eye contact with me and didn't remove her hands. I wonder if she enjoys the feeling of holding them just as much as I do. "I- I can't. If I do he'll find me."

Surely she wasn't this afraid. "Annie, I can keep you safe. I promise I will."

She got tears in her eyes. "You can't! Gloss will hurt you."

Gloss. I know the name. I knew he had some girl at his house but I assumed it was another alcoholic like him. The guy gets arrested about once every two months for drinking. We never have searched his house. We never have seen this girl. Annie seems to realize she said his name. "Oh no. Oh no, no, no." She tightens her grip on my hands. "Please, don't go arrest him. I need him. He is the only reason I am alive. Does that make him a bad person? Please don't arrest him."

"Annie," my words are calculated, planned and very important to keeping her safe. I don't only want her safe from the bastards that tried to kill her; the one that killed Clove and Glimmer. I want to keep her safe from getting beat from this one guy who she dares call family and a good person. No girl should be as thin as she is. No girl should be as malnourished and afraid of punishment for no reason. "Annie, I will not press charges on him, right now. I need you to understand I am trying to help you. I don't want to hurt you. How come every time we drop him back off at his house, we have never seen you?"

She looks down at the bed. She has fear in her eyes, but there is relief there too. "I live in the basement. I am not allowed out without his permission. I am always down there and am left alone for days at a time. He is trying to hide me from the killer, or so he says. I think he just doesn't want anyone discovering what he is hiding."

I nod and gulp. "Annie, we are going to get you home. I am going to give you my personal number. Do you have a cell phone?" She nods. "Annie, please take it and text me every time you think something is about to happen or after something has just happened. Text me if you ever want to chat. Just text me. Can you do that for me? I need to make sure you are always alright."

Annie nods, pulls out her phone and passes it to me. Soon she will be home, in the house of the devil.

Chapter 8 (Part 2)- December 14th, 2019 4:34PM

_Prim_

"Rue! Hurry up!" We put our hair up into nice pony tails and get ready to go out for dinner. We go out every so often, just me and her. It's a normal thing for a couple of single seventeen year olds to do. Rue comes out of the bathroom, looking absolutely stunning, like always. "Ready?"

She smiles. "Always." We love going out. "We need to do this more often."

I smile and nod. "This is always the highlight of my week." Rue and I have always been close. She grew up in Panem like me, but she lives in a different neighborhood than me, District 11. It's right next to my neighborhood, District 12, so I can't complain. We climb into my truck, an awesome, black Ford truck. Most girls want mustangs, but I knew a truck would be more practical here. I'm all for practicality. "Hey, Prim? Who is that?"

I look out my rearview and see an old man, just staring at me. "I don't know." We pull out soon after and drive off. I'm all for practicality, not paranoia.

**So finished with December I guess. We will be running right over Christmas. Sorry to those of you excited to see a Christmas chapter. I'm not in that mindset because I am almost out of school for the summer, so I'm thinking more beaches and stuff. **

**I love all these guys soooooooo much: AmericaTamakiKyoya, Catching Fireflies, .3344, karen357, FunnyPuffins1600, Mikeyjacquez, cutegirlems and FallenPetals712 who favorited the story, and NorCalGirl97, OMGitsgreen, firefoxxe, TGPH, TheWomanWhoCodesAndWrites, Alexandra Jackson rocks Hades, Kaiya330, all I need 22, Mikeyjacquez, cutegirlems, ChloeluvsTHG and FallenPetals712 who are following the story.**


	9. Chapter 9

**It has been a month since we left our excellent cast of characters, and well, we are about to reach the climax (in eight or so chapters). So ten more chapters after this, and an epilogue. Please review after this chapter. I need to see how y'all take this.**

**Mikeyjacquez: Sorry Mikey :( But I did give you the next chapter as fast as I could. :)**

**TheWomanWhoCodesAndWrites: She is getting braver, if you can tell from the beginning, but she is still very afraid. I hope she gets stronger too**

**Catching Fireflies: Well you shall find out if Prim and Rue are okay pretty soon **

**Anonymous: Lol thanks so much! Always a pleasure to see a new reviewer :) I'm very glad you like my writing style. There is a bit of text lingo in this chapter, but in the context it is in, it makes up for it. I am glad (but I do apologize) I got so much emotion out of you... and you'll just have to read and see if I kill him off...**

Chapter 9- January 18th, 2020 7:19PM

I am always texting Annie. I've really gotten to know her over this past month. I make an effort to see her and check up on her at least once every three days. I don't know if I am doing this because I am doing my job correctly, or because I am falling for her. Whichever it is, she doesn't seem to mind. Beetee sees me making an effort to keep this girl safe. He told me that Peeta and I are going to get promoted as soon as he can manage. Guess that is all we can ask for.

I sit at my desk in the station, waiting for Peeta to make plans with Gale for our dinner break. I want to ask Annie to come with us. Johanna and Katniss are. I wait for the phone to vibrate in my pocket. We have long conversations, hours at a time. We both enjoy them. The only time we don't text is when Gloss is around her, I am investigating something or we are sleeping. I feel my phone vibrate.

_Annie: Dinner, tonight? Idk if I can make it. _

I let me fingers type on the touch screen quickly. She always says she might not be able to come, but she always makes it in the end.

_Me: Please? It'll be me, Gale, Peeta, Johanna and Peeta._

"Hey lover boy. How's texting Annie going?" I shove my phone back into my pocket when I see Johanna sitting on my desk, looking at my phone. "Don't deny it, Fin. We all know you've got a thing for her." I feel my phone vibrate. Johanna must see my hand twitch. "Come on Odair. Answer it."

"Fine, Jo." The smile on my face must be huge because Johanna can see what she said in a moment.

"Annie said yes, didn't she?"

_Annie: Ok, I'll go. I'd be more than happy. Pick me up at the usual spot? What time will you want me there?_

"Yeah, Jo. She did." I was about to type seven thirty into my phone but Johanna stops me.

"Well, you won't be able to until at least eight. Beetee sent me over here to tell you and Mellark to make a preliminary report on a body that someone found." She swings her legs off the desk and looks back at me. "Stay out of trouble, Odair. Seriously."

I type eight into my phone and grab Peeta from the break room, where he is on the phone with Gale. "Dude, we can go to dinner at eight. We have to go make a preliminary report on a body someone found."

Peeta nods. "Hey, Gale. Finnick, Johanna, Annie and I will be there between eight and eight thirty. We have to go make a report on a body someone found."

As much as I hated to admit it, the idea of seeing a dead body made me sick. I was happy it wasn't Annie. She's texted me since the discovery of the body. It doesn't mean we are safe yet. I hope it is just someone who died of a heart attack. Seeing Annie alive on the side of the road, with rusty cuts and malnourished body was enough to send me over the edge. I never thought I would have to deal with this.

"Fin, you alright?" Peeta is concerned for me. I give a small nod, but he knows it isn't true. "Fin, you can tell me."

I let out a sigh. "I joined this profession because I thought I wouldn't have to see the things Gale sees. I, frankly, am afraid to see this body."

Peeta put a hand on my shoulder, trying to comfort me as best he could. "You're afraid it is Annie, aren't you?"

I shake my head. "I know it isn't her. I have texted her and gotten a response since Johanna gave us the order. I'm terrified of what I will see. I'm afraid I'll see something like your leg caught in that wood chipper, or something like Annie on the side of the road. I cannot handle it.

Peeta nods. "Finnick, I know you can do this. You have to be strong. I can help you but you are the one in the end who is going to have to be strong. What good are you if you aren't? Gale is stronger than us both, everyday. He always faces death and can never do anything about it. We actually have a chance to stop the evil in the world. How can we do that if we are afraid of a little blood?"

I nod. "I guess." We get into our police cruiser, with Johanna in the back seat. We are going to go to dinner as soon as we make a preliminary report, and pick up Annie. We know we arrive when we see the crowd on the side of the street.

Peeta is the first one to go look at the scene. I get out and let Johanna out. That is when we hear Peeta scream. He doesn't scream like a girl, he screams out of grief. We have no choice to put the tape up before we can see whose body is in the ditch. When we do see it, we are both taken aback.

The light colored hair is crimson with blood. You can tell how she died, a slit through her throat with a rusty knife, but she was first cut up in many different slashes, in the same way Annie was. The only difference is this girl didn't get away.

I can feel tears start to come into my eyes. I know this girl. I can see her final expression through her cold, glazed blue eyes. The dead girl is Primrose Everdeen.

Johanna is the strongest out of all of us, though we are all crying. She gets her phone and calls for Haymitch and Effie, telling them we all had a personal connection with this girl and can be witnesses, but we cannot handle taking this case as our own. I grab the phone from Johanna. "Tell Haymitch and Effie this is the same person who tried to kill Annie Cresta. Tell one of them to call me tomorrow morning."

I hand up the phone and drag Peeta away from the body. We put Peeta in the back and I drive, Johanna sitting passenger. "Who is going to tell Katniss?" she inquires.

I have no idea. I know I have to be the one to tell Annie. She hardly knew Prim, but she knows this killer. She knows his habits. She will be afraid. We hear Peeta, who has gone silent in the back seat. "I'll tell her."

We nod, thankfully. Neither one of us could tell the girl who loved her sister more than anything -except for maybe Peeta- that her sister is dead. I pull up into an old barn and see Annie waiting, looking beautiful, in her typical winter attire.

**Okay, so kind of an intense chapter. We lost Prim and I love her, but I had to let her go. Mikey knew about that from the beginning and so he's been waiting for this... RIP Primrose Everdeen. **

**I love all these guys soooooooo much: AmericaTamakiKyoya, Catching Fireflies, .3344, karen357, FunnyPuffins1600, Mikeyjacquez, cutegirlems and FallenPetals712 who favorited the story, and NorCalGirl97, OMGitsgreen, firefoxxe, TGPH, TheWomanWhoCodesAndWrites, Alexandra Jackson rocks Hades, Kaiya330, all I need 22, Mikeyjacquez, cutegirlems, ChloeluvsTHG and FallenPetals712 who are following the story. You guys make writing worth it. **


	10. Chapter 10

**Thank you all so much for your amazing reviews and please be patient with me. My sister is letting me borrow her laptop, but it is a lot slower than mine was and I can't navigate it as well as my old one. My dad said I won't get mine fixed for a while... boo... but on the bright side, it probably will get fixed sometime this summer. I am going to guess around the same time my car gets fixed (a headlight is out and the oil needs to be changed) so please be patient. This story will be done sometime this summer, I'm pretty sure so yay! **

**Alexandra: I do too! But hop isn't lost because even if I don't my sister is being very kind in letting me borrow hers :)**

**Autumn: Oh yay! I'm very glad you love it! I was so sad to kill off all those characters so I hope they do rest in peace :)**

Chapter 10- January 18th, 2020 8:03PM

Annie is standing in the old barn, wearing a pale peach jacket that goes down to her knees, a pair of white leggings, a pair of black Bearclaw boots and a matching set of white scarf, glove and hat with silver sequins embedded in them. She looks absolutely stunning, but even seeing her as beautiful as she is, I cannot conjure a smile to my face. None of us can. Johanna sits shotgun while Peeta drives, so Annie can sit in the back with me. "Hey, Fin. Hey Peeta and Johanna. Why all the long faces?"

I force a smile onto my face and shake my head. "I'll tell you later. Now isn't the time." Annie nods. She knows to trust me when I say something like this. I'm glad she can understand.

The place where we meet Katniss and Gale is a beautiful seafood place where they offer up all sorts of fish, crab, lobster and chicken and some steaks for those who are into fish. It means there is always something for everyone. Katniss and Gale are standing outside the door, waiting for us, huge smiles on their faces. Peeta parks the car and takes a deep breath. "All of you go ahead and go in. I'll talk to Katniss."

Annie looks up at me, confused. "What does he need to talk to her about?" She looks so innocent and vulnerable that I cannot bring myself to tell her. Katniss needs to be the first to know, anyway.

"I'll tell you inside." We reach Katniss and Gale at the door and Peeta pulls Katniss aside, by whispering a few words in her ear. Her look becomes concerned, confused and very serious. Gale looks as if nothing happened.

"Hey, can you two go get a table, real quick. I need to tell Finnick something." Gale's big gray eyes are alight with excitement and Annie giggles and nods. Johanna smirks and follows Annie in, giving a seductive and sexual wink at Gale, trying to mask her sadness.

I pull my arms in closer to my body. Despite the layers of clothes I am wearing, I am freezing. "What is it, man? I'm freezing and am ready to get warm."

Gale smiles and looks around him before he makes his announcement. "I am going to ask Johanna to marry me." The news takes me by surprise. I thought him and Johanna were going to get married after she wound up pregnant. I pause, look at the girls inside and don't see any sort of lump on Johanna.

"Uh- that's great man." I start to go in, but Gale grabs my shoulder.

"What is bugging you? Something is up." That is when I hear the intense sobs that I can only assume are Katniss'. "Woah, okay, I need to know what it is."

I take a deep breath and look inside to Annie once more. She looks so happy and innocent, talking with Johanna, not a care in the world when she is with us. Yet, I know I can't protect her forever. As soon as she sees Katniss' tear streaked face then she'll know something horrible has happened. "We got a call right before we came here. Someone found a body and we discovered upon arrival Peeta and I couldn't take the case because we had a personal connection to the body." I hear Gale gasp but he doesn't say anything, so I continue. "The body belonged to Primrose Everdeen."

Gale steps backwards and looks completely shocked. He blinks several times before he starts to cry. The crying isn't audible. It is just silent tears falling onto the snow. He grabs a handful of snow and forms a snowball in his hands and throws it at the first thing he sees before he just lets the tears fall. All of us were close to Prim. Her death hit us all really hard. I pick Gale up and wipe the snow from him. "Go to Johanna. I have to tell Annie. It was the same man who tried to kill her."

Gale nods and we walk into the restaurant. Gale takes his seat by Johanna, and she just hugs him. I look at Annie. "Come here." I have the keys in my pocket and start to walk to the car. Annie follows. I turn on the car, once I get inside it, and let the heater warm me. Annie sits in the passenger. Neither of us put our seatbelts on. She knows we aren't leaving, just coming in here for privacy and warmth. We sit in silence as we watch Peeta usher a crying, breaking Katniss into the restaurant. "This is going to be hard to hear. There was a body found, right before we came to pick you up. The body belonged to Katniss' sister, Prim. The killer is the same man who attempted to kill you. We know that because of the way she was killed, not because we caught him."

Annie sits in silence for a few moments before starting to cry. I take her in my arms and just let her cry as long as she needs. She knew Prim. She got close to her and loved her just as much as any of us did. This is the third person she has lost to this serial killer. I rub her back until she finally stops to cry. "I will promise you one thing, Annie. I will always protect you."

She shakes her head. "You can't always."

I look her in the eyes with concern. "Why can't I?"

She starts to peel away her jacket from her body, her hands trembling. I bite my lip as she finally gets it off. Under her jacket is a pale baby blue undershirt. She lifts up the undershirt and reveals a large bruise covering most of her abdomen. "Gloss did this to me."

I can only manage to get out one strangled whisper. "Why?"

She takes a deep breath and looks at her shaking hands. "He did this because I refused to have sex with him. He does this every time I refuse."

I gasp and take her hands in mine. I hate to hear her talk like she has no option. She does have options and this is enough to get an arrest warrant. "Annie, can I get a warrant for his arrest?"

She starts to cry once again. I know she is terrified. She always is but I am terrified that she hasn't ever done anything. This maniac could end up killing her before the killer even has a chance. When she looks me in the eyes she shakes her head no, but I know I'll get one anyway. It hurts me too much to see her this way.

**Thanks so much to all my amazing reviewers, favoriters and followers! I am very glad to have all of you! I can't write y'all all down because of this laptop, but I am thankful for every one of you :) **


	11. Chapter 11

**50 reviews! Wow thanks so much guys! :D Hey so things are about to get intense! I am so excited to show y'all this chapter; it was a ton of fun to write, but it was kinda scary to write too. Also, I have no idea where my inspiration comes from, every single thing comes from the top of my head so yeah...**

**Mira: Oh thank you :) that's so nice. I love it when people say they love my writing style. That means a lot :)**

**Alexandra: Oh I hope your wrists get better! What on earth did you do?**

**Petals: Mini! Glad you enjoy it. I appreciate that coming from you. I want Lizzy to read this too, but she has yet to read Cathcing Fire and Mockingjay... you should get her on that ;)**

** Mikey: Mr. 50th reviewer! Yay! I don't think Annie is too terribly strong... even after writing this chapter... Fin does love her though so I guess his love makes her strong? Am I making this too philosophical? Oh well! Se la vi! Glad you like it.**

Chapter 11 (Part 1)- January 18th, 2020 10:17PM

_Annie_

I hate walking up the wooden steps to the house. I hate doing it so late at night. The past few times I've gone out to dinner with Finnick and his friends, I've been lucky. Gloss was passed out drunk on the couch, not a care in the world for me. I love it when I am invisible here. I can't say the same for every place else, but here I love it. It makes me so incredibly happy to be able to fade away into the shadows of the basement while Gloss has his buddies over for beer pong. I'm not so lucky today though. I can tell as soon as I take the first step onto the creaky porch steps. There is a light on in the kitchen and there are no sounds of the obnoxious music Gloss loves. There is none of that. There isn't even the faint sound of his snoring. There are just the sounds of the steps, and the sound of the creaking door, slowly opening. Gloss is standing in the doorway with a maniacal smile flashing snow white teeth against his handsome but terrifyingly crazy face. The icy green eyes he has show me no sympathy. He just stands there smiling, plotting what way to hurt me next. "Where were you?"

I pull my jacket closer to me. Gloss has no idea where I got it. It is the best jacket I have ever owned. Finnick bought it for me and gave it to me at the first dinner I joined him at. He said he saw the threadbare thing I wore and he didn't want me to freeze. He bought me this jacket out of selflessness. If Gloss ever bought anything like this for a girl, he would do it so he could get laid later. "I said where were you, bitch?"

I shake my head. I don't have to answer to him. "Nowhere."

He pulls me inside the house by my hair. I let out a small scream as I feel an intense pain on my head. Before I can react much more to the damage my hair is causing me, I feel a huge hand and stinging across my face. "I'll ask you one more time. Where were you?"

I bite my lower lip, take a moment and take a deep breath. I then look up and look him in the eyes. "I don't have to answer to you." My voice isn't shaking at all. There is no hesitation between words or nervousness. I have to be brave. I have learned so much from Finnick, Gale, Peeta, Johanna and Katniss. They all face danger and spit in its face every single day. I hate acting like this to anyone, but if I am ever going to be safe again, I need to do it.

I look up at Gloss and he looks completely taken aback. There was nervousness in his eyes I didn't see before but it disappears as quickly as it appeared. The expression of confusion in his eyes quickly melts to fury. The slight frown on his face turns to a snarl. I am shaking now. What came over me was completely new. I am submissive; I always tell what happened to me. It keeps his from doing attacks like this to me. I can feel his arms around me as he tackles me to the ground. My head hits the glass coffee table with a sickening crunch and there is glass everywhere. I can see the blood surrounding too. I can feel it pooling out of my head. "You deserve this, you whore. Remember that!" His voice is a low growl and his words sound more animal than human.

There are worse ways to die. The murderer could kill me for no reason, or I could die defending myself. I'd rather go the latter. I take a deep breath and embrace his punches. Each blow to my face and stomach don't cause me damage. I'm air now and I'm not going to show that anything he does hurts me. I choke back each scream and wait for the darkness to enfold me in its welcoming arms. My only regret is not being able to tell Finnick goodbye.

Chapter 11 (Part 2)- January 18th, 2020 10:36PM

_Peeta_

Finnick wanted to get the warrant to arrest this creep who has been hurting Annie. I don't blame him. It has been a hard day, discovering Prim was dead and Finnick telling me the way Annie was beat. He tried to get the arrest warrant, but Beetee would only let us have a search warrant, and I had to be the one to search the house. I agreed to do this, of course, because I know the look on his face if he discovered Annie was dead would be the same look Katniss had when she learned Prim was dead. I have to wipe away tears before I can continue.

What is wrong with me? What kind of officer cries? How does Finnick do it? Be so strong all the time? He was able to look at Annie, on the side of the road, pick her up and get her to the hospital. If I saw her, then she would surely be dead. I take a deep and shaky breath. It's alright if I am out of sorts today. The love of my life's little sister just died. The crush of my best friend is being abused. The only good thing about today is that Gale told me in secret that he is planning to propose to Johanna. About time too. I'm tired of hearing the mattress and moaning coming from the other room. They can move out and make love as much as they want. Katniss and I are more traditional. We want to wait until we are married to make love, but we will occasionally share a bed, if it is needed.

I pull over to the house where Annie lives. It is poor, run down with a wooden porch, with wooden steps leading up to it. I put my gun and tazer on the right side of my belt and my handcuffs in the left. I leave the car unlocked, in case I do need to make an arrest. I knock on the door once, but it appears no one heard me. I knock once more and when there is no answer, I try the door. It's locked. I shove on the door, running at it with my shoulder and break it down. It was old and weathered wood, no need to call for backup. "This is Officer Mel-"

There is Gloss, holding a bruised and bleeding Annie by her waist at the top of a flight of stairs. I can tell he is about to throw her down them. "Stop!" It doesn't stop him, he throws her anyway, sending her down the stairs in a broken lump. I run to her and pick her up, laying her down gently on the couch, as much as I don't want to. It smells like cigarette smoke, beer and urine. I can see Gloss is trying to think of a way to run for it, so I pull out my gun and aim it. I hate using it, but when there are few other options…

Gloss runs for me from the top of the stairs. He looks mad, completely mental. I jump out of the way, but he charges after me again. We are playing a game where he is the bull and I am holding the red blanket. He charges again and when I step out of the way, I shoot his foot. He screams in pain and I cuff him as quickly as I can. I pull out my walkie talkie and speak into it. "This is Officer Mellark requesting an ambulance."

Once I hear the okay, I shove Gloss into the cop car and wait with Annie until the ambulance arrives. "Everything will be okay now, Ann."

Annie smiles up at me and with what little strength she can muster up, she hugs me.

**Okay so special thanks to: AmericaTamakiKyoya, AutumnWillow18, Catching Fireflies, FallenPetals712, FunnyPuffins1600, Mikey Jacquez, MiraOfTheBitterSea, cutegirlems, .3344, harrypotterlove16 and karen357 for adding this story to their favorites! You guys are amazing! **

**Also thanks to the fifteen people who are following this story! You are all amazing :) **


	12. Chapter 12

**Hey guys, so I reread my story last night and I realize I contradict myself a lot... I don't really have a proofreader, so yeah. I've had Mikey proofread 2 chapters (the first chapter and chapter 11) but besides that, I don't look over my work, so when I contradict myself, go with the latter to avoid confusion. This chapter really had a lot of stuff that came out of nowhere, but that isn't a bad thing. I am pleased at how this chapter turned out and love the new faces. The idea in this chapter came as suddenly as the idea of Lula did. Also: record amount of reviews for a chapter! Thanks guys! **

**Fireflies: Yeah well two villains down, one to go :) He really is a jerk! **

**Petals: It isn't sweet... it tastes like... hmm... it tastes like your dads turkey, so it is still delicious! I honestly, could see you saying that in real life... **

**Alexandra and Leo: Well, at least you had fun while breaking your wrists? No? And thanks! I appreciate the love the story is getting. **

**TheWoman: He hasn't popped it yet... he has just said he is going to, and that was brave of Annie, wasn't it? I'm proud of her :) Prim did make me sad, as did hurting Annie. I feel awful for poor Katniss... Now for the whole Peeta found her thing, Beetee wouldn't let Finnick go because of the personal feelings he has for Annie, and Johanna is a cop secretary, record keeper kind of person? She isn't an actual cop, she just works at the station. I should have mentioned that but I never really found a place to squeeze it in... but now y'all know. I wanted to send someone Finnick trusts in to find Annie, and Haymitch and Effie didn't seem like the right choice... **

**Anarchy: Well I'm glad I didn't disappoint and I'm glad by frequent updates people are seeing this. I'm glad to have a new reader. **

**Mira: I feel the exact same way! I cannot bring myself to read stories where Finnick and Annie aren't a couple by the end of it. **

Chapter 12- January 18th, 2020 11:22PM

I had been glued to my walkie ever since Beetee said I couldn't go to search the house because I was too connected to the case. Peeta never called backup, but he did call an ambulance. I get into the Tundra, telling Gale I was going to borrow it and rushed to the hospital. I beat the team there, so I'm stuck pacing the emergency room waiting for Annie to get here. Though I only wait in the dismal room for seven minutes and forty-three seconds, it seems like days, weeks or even years have passed. I hate it. Then they roll in a gurney with a figure I recognize as Annie on it.

I could recognize Annie anywhere, but anyone else would have been hard pressed to figure out who is was. Her hair was matted with blood so it was twice as thick and a dark auburn color instead of its usual lovely brown. Both her eyes are swollen so much they are purple and shut. Her cheeks were covered in huge scratches and some of the biggest cuts had pieces of glass in them. There were three holes coming through her cheeks, and her nose was crooked and bloody, very obviously broken. Her left arm was bent in a way to where it was obviously broken and through the tank top that had once been baby blue, but now a dark purple, he could see a sudden concave in the middle of her chest.

I could hear nervous chattering coming from random strangers around me. They sat in the emergency room hoping for their sprained wrist and ankles were going to magically be cured. None of them looked as serious as Annie. My heart fell into the pit of my stomach and tears just came to my eyes. I couldn't stop the audible sobs from pouring out of me. In the short month I knew her, where the most romantic thing we had done his hug, I somehow knew I was in love with her.

I can't identify a time when I realized I loved her. It might have been when I first saw her on the side of the road. It might have been when I saw the jacket on the store mannequin and though that would look amazing on Annie and bought it for her. It might have been when she spilled every secret about her past, why she was in Alaska and what happened to her best friends. It might have been when I saw Prim dead and realized I could never let that happen to her. It might have been just now, when I saw her being rolled across the hospital floors, even nearer to death then she could've been the first time. Whenever it was, I know it was real and true.

I love her. I love the way when she gets very excited, she forgets who she is around and simply let's go and acts like a kid again. I love how she says she wanted to be Belle on Broadway or Disney World. I love the awkward way she will refuse and accept compliments. I love it when she changes the satellite radio to the Broadway station, after asking me of course, and will just sing along to "Beauty and the Beast", "Spring Awakening", "Les Miserables" or any other song from any other musical she knows. She is so unlike any other girl I have ever met and yet I love her. That is why I cannot stop the tears from pouring out of my eyes and into my hands.

"Excuse me, mister?" I look up and there is a little girl and her younger brother standing two feet away from my tear stricken face. "Mister, my brother and me wanted to know if you was ok." The girl didn't look more than seven, the boy no older than four.

I shake my head. "Did you see that girl they brought in on the stretcher? The one they were rushing around and saying was going to die if they didn't hurry?" The little boy and girl nodded. "That was a girl I care about very much."

The little girl looked up at me with big blue eyes. Her blonde hair was pulled into two high pigtails with pieces of pink ribbon holding them in place. She crouched down to her little brother and did some elaborate symbols with her hands when it occurred to me her brother was deaf. The little boy took his thumb out of his mouth and signed back to her. "My brother wants to know if she'll be okay."

I shrug. "I hope so." The little girl signed to her brother and looked back up at me.

Her little brother went to a large bag and pulled out two boxes, a brown one and a silver one. "The silver one is for your friend when she wakes up and is all better. Tell her Mary and Matthew gave them to her from the Lord." She then takes it from her brother and gives it to me. I put it in my pocket. "The brown one is for you. We wanted to give this to you." The little girl, Mary I'm guessing, smiles and so does her brother, who I'm assuming is named Matthew, as they pass me the brown box. "Go ahead. Open it."

When I open it there are two black crisscrossing pieces of metal forming a cross on a thin piece of black leather. Underneath the necklace is a twenty dollar bill with a note saying "We're keeping you in our prayers. With love, the Ashton Family- Richard and Tammie, Mary and Matthew" I have a hard time keeping the tears from making a return appearance. I haven't gone to church in months; I am usually too tired from police duties or have something else to do. Mary pulled out a little journal I didn't notice before. "May Matthew and I add you to our prayer journal?" I nod. "What is your name, mister?"

I smile at the two kids, my fingers forming the letters as I speak. I only know the ASL alphabet, but it's enough to say my name. "Finnick Odair. My friend's name is Annie Cresta."

The little blonde head of Matthew smiles and bows his head. Mary waves a man and woman I can only assume to be their parents over to join us. The man speaks in a comforting tone. "May we pray with you?" I nod. "Dear Lord, thank you for giving us this wonderful day in your care and thank you for this man here before us. Please help with with whatever burdens him and let it be resolved soon. In your name we pray, amen."

Over the course of the next two hours, I learn a lot about this little family. They have to make frequent trips to the hospital because Matthew is deaf and has been since birth. When they come to the hospital they always carry a bag with them. In the bag are some toys and candy they will give out to children in the waiting room who look sad and little pocket bibles they give out to those who look upset. They had made five brown boxes and five silver boxes to pass out to people who really appeared to need them. They also had a prayer journal which they wrote everyone's names down who was in the ER with them at the same time so they could always pray for them. It was a beautiful, touching story and by the end of the night, I ended up exchanging numbers with Richard and Tammie, who promised to keep Annie in their prayers. We only stopped talking when I was called to the back to see Annie.

"Mr. Odair, it appears Annie will make a full recovery within the year, but she will need to visit us monthly for checkups. We also want her to stay here at the hospital for a week so we can make sure she is healing properly and will be alright." Doctor Cinna was telling me everything about Annie with great sympathy that I couldn't understand.

"Yes sir." Doctor Cinna then led me into a large hospital room where Annie was being kept. The swelling had gone down, and there was no longer a concave in her chest and her arm was in a cast. Her face was covered with gauze and stitches and I could finally understand why he was being so sullen while talking to me.

I go and sit on the edge of her bed. "Hey Annie." She smiles. "You feeling better?"

She nodded. "He attacked me, but I refused to scream or cry out."

I look at her with concern. "Why would you do that?"

"I was hoping he would stop. I though… I thought he was going to kill me." That's when the tears came. I just held her in my arms until she stopped crying, an hour later. It didn't seem like an hour. It seemed like five minutes.

I pulled the silver box the Ashton's gave me from my pocket. "Some people in the lobby told me to give this to you. They said it was from God."

Annie took the box and opened it. Inside was a charming little silver cross with a pink crystal in the center, hanging on a dainty silver chain. Inside her box was another twenty dollars and a note from the Ashton's, but she didn't see that. She just saw the cross. "He is watching over me."

I put the necklace around her neck and seized the moment to ask her the question that has been on my mind. "Annie, I was wondering, if you would go out with me?"

The question seemed to take Annie by surprise. After a few moments she shook her head and I couldn't help but feel disappointment surge over me. "Listen, Fin, it's not that I don't want to but I don't want to date you yet. I am afraid of a relationship because of what happened with Gloss, but I know you wouldn't do that. I also want to make sure that I'm not dating you just because I want to get away from Gloss. That wouldn't be fair to you. I just want time. Is that okay?"

I smile and nod. It means I still have a chance, and I would wait until the end of time for Annie. "Of course. May I ask one more thing?" Annie nods. "I'd like you to move in with Katniss and Johanna. I know it would be safer there and that would give me peace in mind. They both already said it was fine."

Annie doesn't hesitate this time when answering. "I'd love to. That sounds like a lot of fun."

**The amazing people award goes to: AmericaTamakiKyoya, AutumnWillow18, Catching Fireflies, FallenPetals712, FunnyPuffins1600, Mikey Jacquez, MiraOfTheBitterSea, cutegirlems, .3344, harrypotterlove16, karen357, Anarchy Girl, harrypotterlove16 and hungergameshgfan for adding this story to their favorites!**

**Special thanks to the sixteen beautiful people who are following this story!**

**This story has the 2nd most amount of reviews, third most amount of clicks, second most amount of favorites and is tied for second for the most amount of follows, making this, overall, my tied for second most popular story, tied with my other popular Hunger Games story, Run Away. They are both being beat by a story I wrote last summer for a different fandom, but with 34 stories written, this is one of my most popular stories and I cannot be sad about that! You guys are all amazing. **

**-Juliet**


	13. Chapter 13

**Okay so we're going to fast forward a month in this chapter and go to lovey Valentines Day (or Singles Awareness Day... whatever floats your boat) this is also the chapter I was most excited to publish... you'll see why by the end. **

**Guest: Thank you tons :) I love how excited you all are getting about this story **

**Alexandra: Thanks :) (your typing was fine, by the way :D ) The parts where Annie was strong wasn't planned in my prewriting at all, so that's a happy surprise that I'm glad got into teh story**

**HarryPotter: Oh that's really sweet! Thank you so much. I'm really glad everyone is enjoying it so much, like a lot more than I feel like y'all should, but yay anyway! It feels like my birthday or Christmas reading reviews like this. **

**TheWoman: Well, I don't really show Annie moving in, sorry. I couldn't figure out how to write that and make it interesting but I hope this chapter makes up for that. I also like how Fin is giving her time, I feel like that is a sign of love. I'm really glad you liked Mary and Matthew! Completely random part. **

Chapter 13- February 14th, 2020 2:16PM

Discovering who the murderer is has become an obsession in the past month. I don't have to worry about Annie being abused at her home anymore so I've had more time to focus on saving the rest of her life. I want to make it to where she is no longer a target on the serial killers list, but I can only come up with two things this murderer looks for in those he has killed: they are all young women, and they all knew Annie. I can't stop a murderer if he is looking for those two things, from coming after Annie. There has got to be some third factor…

"Hey Finnick, you want some cookies?" I hear Peeta from the kitchen. On Valentine's Day he always makes these soft red velvet cookies from scratch with a pink cream cheese icing. He then makes white chocolate hearts to go on top of them. If he wasn't going out with Katniss, I'd think he was gay because of the cookies he made. I don't really care though; they're delicious!

"Since when do I not want cookies?" I yell back. I put my notes away and find a paper plate and some plastic wrap. "Hey, can I take some to Annie?" I'm about to start placing cookies on a plate when Peeta stops me.

"Already did it." He passes me a plate with at least a dozen cookies on there.

I take the plate and place it on the desk where the obsession of finding the killer has taken over. The mahogany desk is covered in newspaper clippings and articles over Glimmer, Clove and Prim's death, which happened a month ago. As soon as Peeta did the bust on Gloss he went straight to Katniss. It was hard to convince him to do the favor for me. Beetee refused to let me go and Trinket and Abernathy were already at home, not allowed to be bothered. In the end, it was Katniss telling him to go, so she could grieve alone for an hour and so Annie would be safe.

There is a knock on the door then a quiet entrance from Katniss. She starts to head over to the couch in the middle of the living room of our apartment, but Peeta intercepts her and takes her to the kitchen. He puts his arms around her and puts his hands over hers. He makes her take a whisk in her hand and start mixing drops of red food dye with white cream cheese frosting. He dips one finger into the mix and taps it on her nose, rewarding him with a rare smile. He then pulled her in for a kiss. "PDA!" I had no choice. They made me sick with all their couple cuteness.

Peeta, mid kiss, pulls off one of the flip-flops he wears around the house and throws it at me. It misses, but just barely. When they finally break apart Peeta looks me in the eyes and laughs. "Shut it, Odair. You're just jealous because you're single."

I put my hands up in surrender. "Hey, I am single, but through no fault of my own. I'm just willing to wait for the girl I want to date." I look at the clock. It's two twenty-seven. We were all suppose to meet here at the apartment at two thirty so we could hand then go out for a big double date with two single people crashing the party, as I liked to call it. I can't wait to see Annie. This will be the first holiday she will get to spend with the five of us. Everyone knew I couldn't keep the excitement off of my face. My usual debonair charm that I typically pretended to have was long gone when I thought about her.

Two twenty-nine Gale and a star-struck looking Johanna waltz into the room. "She said yes!" The remaining three of us burst into applause as Gale pulls Johanna in for a kiss. Now all we are waiting for is Annie.

Johanna sits on Gale's lap and they talk to one another in an obnoxiously cute manner. Katniss is helping Peeta clean the kitchen and I am constantly checking my phone for a text from Annie. By two forty-five I know something is wrong. Annie is never late. "Hey, Katniss, Jo, did Annie say she was doing anything today?"

Katniss shakes her head. "She said she was going to sleep and pry herself out of bed at one forty-five." I grab the keys to the tundra and open the door.

"Relax, Fin. She's probably running a bit late." I hear Gale calling after me. I open the door and look back at him.

"Gale, Annie doesn't run late; when she does, she texts me. Something is wrong." I run out the door and reach the Tundra in record time.

The apartment the girls stay at isn't too far from ours. It would be in walking distance, if it wasn't for the snow. I pull into the driveway and race up the stairs knowing it would be faster than taking the elevator. I knock on the door several times and yell for her. "Annie? Annie you in there?"

There is no answer. I look underneath the rug where the spare key is hidden, underneath a loose floorboard the rug hides, and pull it out. I place the key in the lock and run to the room where Annie stays. The black, white and hot pink comforter is pulled back and the pink sheets are covered in blood. I can feel tears start to prick in my eyes. I didn't save her. I lost her. I grab the thing closest to me and am about to throw it, when I see it is a picture.

I look at the picture in my hands, holding the black frame carefully. It was a picture taken two weeks ago. I was holding out my phone for a selfie of us, a cute one that typically only couples do. She was on my back for a piggy back ride and we are both looking at the camera, smiling. I hug the picture close to me and look around the room. Then I see it. It's an elegant ivory note with a single rose next to it. I pick up the note and in elegant script it says six words. _Don't expect to find her alive. _

**Special thanks to all my favoriters: AmericaTamakiKyoya, AutumnWillow18, Catching Fireflies, FallenPetals712, FunnyPuffins1600, Mikey Jacquez, MiraOfTheBitterSea, cutegirlems, .3344, harrypotterlove16, karen357, Anarchy Girl, harrypotterlove16 and hungergameshgfan! You guys are amazing!**

**Thanks to everyone who is following the story as well. I love you guys too! :)**

**-Juliet**


	14. Chapter 14

**So Annie is gone, Finnick can't find her and all hope may be lost, but have some of y'all figured out who the killer is? **

**Anarchy Girl: Yeah... On Valentines Day.**

**To the people who attempted to review but couldn't, I deleted a chapter (the one where it's just a little authors note) so if you couldn't review for the chapter, you should be able to now :) **

Chapter 14 (Part 1) - February 14th, 2020 2:57PM

I'm shaking and can feel the blood drain from my face. _Do not expect to find her alive. _Does that mean she is still alive? I have to find her. Clues. There has got to be something here of use. The room is perfectly Annie, besides the bed. I can see the blood and the bits of rust coming from the knife this sick bastard used to kill her. Dead? Annie dead?

I fall to the floor, my knees suddenly buckle and my stomach is uneasy. Finding the trashcan by means of crawling, I empty the contents of my stomach. I'm sick. I'm sick physically and I'm sick emotionally. I'm broken without her.

I know she didn't want to date, but that was a month ago. I was going to as her on a date today. I was going to take her aside after we ate at the seafood restaurant and I was going to ask her and present her with a single red rose, like in Beauty and the Beast because the Beast was given a rose to count his days until he found love. I thought it would be a romantic and sweet gesture. How ironic, considering the white as snow rose the killer laid as a trap for me.

When I see her, when I find her, I am going to take her and give her a red rose. When people are dead, they become pale because their blood stops flowing. I'll get her a red one because she does still have blood flowing. She has to. I don't know what I would do if I discover her dead like we found Prim. I don't know what I would do if I discovered her like she discovered Clove and Glimmer. I don't know what I would do if the last time I got to look into her eyes, they were glazed over with fear and death.

I am eventually able to clear my head enough to know I need to call the cops. I punch in the three digit code and wait until my call can be heard. "9-1-1, what's your emergency?" I can hear the voice of the female receptionist through the phone.

"This is Officer Odair. I need to be connected to Chief Beetee." My voice is gruff and cracking, like I have been crying. I probably was and just didn't notice. I am connected through quickly.

"Odair, what is going on? I need to know you called for a logical-" I cut off his concerned but practical voice off.

"She's gone. Beetee, she's been taken. The killer kidnapped her and left a note. He is going to kill her!" My voice is becoming louder with each word, more frantic and unsettling. "Tell me what you need me to do, Beetee? What do you need me to do?"

Beetee hushes me and relaxes me with a few short breaths. "Odair, I need you to remain calm and stay where you are. I can't have you on this case anymore. Remember at the beginning, when I told you when the case proved too dangerous I would have to take you off? I'm taking you off. I think you could handle it if it was any other person, but you obviously have developed personal feelings with the victim. I'm going to have to take you off. Remain there until the detectives get there, they will question you and figure out what to do."

"I can't just sit here! This moment Annie could be a block away, dying! What am I supposed to do? I also know more about this case than anyone! How can you take me off?"

"My word is final Odair!" I can hear him take a breath over the phone, trying to figure out consoling words to say. "I'm sorry, Finnick, but it's not good for you or the girl for you to be on this case. You will be our number one witness and we will keep you updated on our findings of the girl. That is the best I can do." He then hangs up the phone and leaves me alone with his words echoing in my head.

"Agrh!" I scream and put my hands into fists and dig my nails into my palms to the point where I can feel blood. No I have to find her. I can't have Annie think I gave up on her.

I look around the room. There has got to be something out of place. The books are all in order on her bookshelf, the Harry Potter movies are in order right beside the Twilight movies, as are the books, because she hates it when fans of different things fight for no reason; her pile of stuffed animals underneath the window appear undisturbed, but the window blinds are up. She always kept the blinds closed and down because she liked to feel like she was secluded in her own area. While I was at it, I sniffed the air. It didn't smell like her room, which always smelled like Bath and Body Works Pink Sugar Plum because I bought it for her for Christmas and she loved the smell, it smelled like blood.

Knowing the killer went out the window, I followed his lead.

Chapter 14 (Part 2) - February 14th, 2020 3:13PM

_Haymitch_

While Effie is chatting away going over details of the case that I already know, I am looking for clues. I am looking for footprints in the snow, tire tracks that seem to have an odd path… anything that the killer might have. I already know Finnick has probably left the scene to chase after the killer. I would be long gone if I were him. I'd be surprised if he was still there.

When Effie and I do manage to pull up the apartment where the crime took place, she is suddenly very quiet. "Where is Odairs car?"

"He shares it with Mellark. He probably has their other car." I don't tell her that that car is probably gone as well. The apartment where the girls stay is perfectly clean, neat and tidy, which is surprising considering Johanna Mason lives here, but I don't question it.

"Odair! Odair, where are you?" Effie calls for him like he's a dog, but I know where he is. He is looking for the killer. I'm not going to be the one to turn him in for not doing his job.

"You go for it, kid." I mutter under my breath as I enter the girls room.

**Special thanks to all my favoriters: AmericaTamakiKyoya, AutumnWillow18, Catching Fireflies, FallenPetals712, FunnyPuffins1600, Mikey Jacquez, MiraOfTheBitterSea, cutegirlems, .3344, harrypotterlove16, karen357, Anarchy Girl, harrypotterlove16 and hungergameshgfan! You guys are amazing!**

**Thanks to everyone who is following the story as well. I love you guys too! :)**

**-Juliet**


	15. Chapter 15

**Well I left y'all wondering if Annie was alive, well can't tell you yet (spoilers) but here is the next chapter: **

**Fireflies: Lol well here is an update (or two since that was a chapter 13 review...)**

**Alexandra: Well I'm glad I got some emotion out of you. I'm glad you like my style! :) **

**TheWoman: Oh yeah, Finnick is not going to stop until he finds her. I like his rebellion too. Also, it has been a month since Prim died and I feel Katniss wouldn't share her worries out loud, in front of everyone, just probably Peeta.**

**Mikey: Oh you thought of someone! :D Do tell ;)**

Chapter 15- March 3rd, 2020 3:41PM

I've been like this for almost a month. I've been doing nothing but searching for clues of Annie. The longer I take, the more likely it is she is dead. She isn't dead though. I'd know it as soon as she died. I know I would feel something. I also know the way this killer thinks. He has a pattern. Every girl we now he has killed have showed up dead in a ditch. The fact no one has reported finding a body in a ditch, I can hold onto hope she is alive.

I pull my hoodie closer to my body, trying to regain a little warmth that my body is lacking. I haven't been warm since Annie has gone missing. It's like there is no such thing as the sun anymore.

I get around on a motorbike now. I don't show up to work anymore. I've taken an official leave of absence. Apparently cops can do that when something traumatic happened to them. Annie going missing is traumatic enough to qualify. While I should be resting, getting my head straight, I am tracking Annie. In this month, I have developed a hypothesis of the area where the killer is keeping her. I have no idea why he is keeping her alive. He gave none of the other girls a chance. The more I think about it, the more I think it might be because of me.

Maybe, in his sick and twisted mind, this is nothing more than a game. Find the girl in a certain amount of time and he might let her live. If I fail in finding her… I don't want to think about that. I have to find her. I can feel my phone start to vibrate in the pocket of my jeans. I look around, and when I am certain there is no one watching, I pull down my hood and pull out my phone. "Hello?" My voice is hoarse and scratchy. I don't talk much anymore; not even to Peeta and Gale.

"Odair, this is Beetee." I take a breath. I didn't even bother to look at the contact that was being used. I assumed it was just Peeta calling about dinner. "Odair, I want you to listen to me."

"Alright, what is it?" I am barely speaking above a whisper. I am looking around anxiously for any sign of Annie I can.

Over the phone, I can hear Beetee inhale over the phone, as if he is trying to figure out the best way to phrase something. "Listen, Finnick. It has almost been a month since the girl has gone missing. While there is no proof that the girl is dead, we feel as though she is. I have told Detectives Abernathy and Trinket to treat this like a homicide case. Abernathy seems to be taking your side, saying there is no proof and there is a pattern to the killer; the body always shows up in a ditch. He thinks the girl is still alive, while Trinket and I agree she is most likely dead."

I should be frowning; I should be demanding and determined that he is wrong. I'm not going to though. He only would try to prove me wrong. If I was as sane as I needed to be, I would give in and come back to the station, working to avenge Annie's death. I'm not sane though. "Did you ask Peeta?"

"No. I wanted you to be the first to know. I also know he is going to support you, so I can't tell him as much information as I would like. He would tell it all to you before all the clues were looked at carefully, and you would go check it out and be reckless. I'm sorry. I just wanted to let you know. Also, I know you are doing private work. You technically aren't permitted to do this kind of work during your leave of absence. I'm not going to report you though, Odair. As much as I think she is dead, I also think you are doing a good thing. Keep it up." Beetee hung up the phone and left me alone with my thoughts.

He supports me in going against his officers? How can he? I guess Beetee would understand better than most other police chiefs. His daughter, a girl named Elle, was missing for eleven months before they found her. The only reason he thought she might have still been alive while she was missing was because the man was known for kidnapping children and selling them as sex playthings. He found her, and she was perfectly healthy, no STD's or anything. A miracle protected Elle. I hope a miracle protects Annie.

I hop onto my motorbike and drive four streets north. I was on Fishing Street. I pass Technology Street, Masonry Street and Luxury Street until I reach Capital Street. There is a house on this street I suspect greatly.

I suspect this house because of the perfectly groomed roses peering out of well ventilated green houses in the backyard of the house. I only noticed the house because driving by one day I could smell the roses. I am watching the house when I hear it. I hear the bloodcurdling scream that pierces my heart.

I halfway feel relief. Annie is alive. She is alright and she is going to live if I can get to her. The other half of me feels icy fear gripping at my heart. Annie has been through so much. What could he have done to her to make her scream like that?

I shove the old wooden door down easily, forcing my way in. I hear muffled crying coming from downstairs and I know where she is being held. I just need to find the staircase…

Under the rug I see a slight indentation. Lifting the rug I see a trapdoor and lift it. In the trapdoor is a wooden ladder, one that could be connected to the door, trapping whoever is inside. I assume since the ladder is down the killer is down there.

I take each step slow, going as silently as I can, even though I want to jump down and run to Annie. I can hear her crying, but it's muffled. It sounds like she is being gagged as well. After I get to the bottom of the ladder I allow myself to run into the room. I send out a text to Peeta before I enter.

_I found Annie. 2006 Capital Street. _

I enter and see a sight that brings tears to my eyes; tears of joy for seeing Annie alive and tears of sadness for seeing the rusty knife in her leg, so long it comes in on one side, and exits out the other, no doubt going through bone in the process.

**Hey I started a new forum, if y'all wanted to check it out! **

** forum/Victor-s-Forum/135439/**

**Special thanks to all my lovely favroiters: candyapple162, AmericaTamakiKyoya, AutumnWillow18, Catching Fireflies, FallenPetals712, FunnyPuffins1600, Mikey Jacquez, MiraOfTheBitterSea, cutegirlems, .3344, harrypotterlove16, karen357, Anarchy Girl, harrypotterlove16 and hungergameshgfan!**

**Also thanks to my 17 Followers! You all Rock! **


	16. Chapter 16

**This chapter and two more to follow. We finally reached the climax! I hope you enjoy. I had so much fun writing and I have another Modern Day story planned for after this one. I'll explain more after I publish the epilogue. **

**Alexandra: Lol I wont be as mean if I kill you as our killer (who you will find out this chapter)**

**Fireflies: I forget I wrote that paragraph until I saw your review. Thanks! :)**

**TheWoman: I love rebel Finnick too. I hate hurting Annie but it kinda is vital to the story...**

**Mira:You will find out this chapter :) **

Chapter 16- March 3rd, 2020 4:06PM

"Annie!" I run to her, not looking at the surroundings. I only see her. I hate that she is being held in this awful position. The knife in her leg must be causing her extreme pain. I can only assume I heard her scream because of that, because fresh blood is still pooling out of the wound and onto the concrete floor where we are.

"Finnick!" I was about to take her in my arms, and spin her around but I notice the clear zip ties cutting into her tiny wrists. They are rubbing on her making her wrists red and covered in dried blood. "Finnick, what are you doing here?"

I grab the pocket knife that was living in my back pocket and pull it to where the knife is. I cut her free and look her in the eyes. "Did you think I wouldn't come and find you?"

She shrugged and wrapped her arms around my neck. "I didn't think anyone cared enough. No one else would have found me."

"This is all I've been doing the last month. I took a leave of absence and did nothing but look for you." She has tears pouring down her face. She looks so small. I doubt she has gotten enough to eat in the past month. She hardly ate anything before. She would seldom eat more than kid's meals and not drink anything but water and lemonade. If she had gotten so much smaller, I doubt she ate anything with substance. She was still crying, and she looked small weak and hungry. "Hey, I'm here now. What's wrong?"

I wiped away a tear falling from her left eye with my thumb, her head safely held in my hands. "He'll kill us."

I shake my head. "He won't. I will not let him kill you. I can't let him kill you. Want to know why, Annie?" My eyes never break contact with hers and I say these words more certainly than I've ever said anything else in my life. "I love you, Annie."

I pull her closer to me and tilt up her chin and kiss her. Any kiss anyone else has made couldn't compare to this one. I kissed her and she kissed back. It was like the earth stopped and the world had a spotlight on us. My happiness only increased when I realized she was kissing me back. Never had I imagined my kiss with Annie would be so magical and perfect. When we broke apart after what felt like hours of kissing, even though it was probably no more than thirty seconds, I took off the hoodie I was wearing and put it over her. "Don't look."

She nodded and closed her eyes as I grabbed the knife in my hand. I could feel her physically stiffen under me. I looked at the wound where the knife still was. It reminded me a great deal of Peeta getting caught in the wood chipper. I took a breath and was surprised I didn't feel the urge to vomit. Grabbing the knife in my right hand, and lightly holding her hand in my left, I started to pull. I heard choked sobs coming from Annie. I wanted to get it out fast but it was stuck through bone, tendons and muscle. "Annie, I'm sorry." I said it over and over again until I finally got the blood soaked knife out of her.

I grabbed the hem of my shirt and ripped it. I didn't care that is was my favorite shirt, because it was soft from many washes and always promised to be warm when I put it on, even on the coldest nights. I didn't care. I just wanted Annie to be better. I wrapped the cloth around her upper leg four times before I looked up. "Annie, where is this man?"

She shook as she answered. "He is in the other room." She pointed out a door I hadn't noticed before. "He said he had a special plan for me. He said I was going to die today."

I shake my head. "You are not going to die today. This man is going to go behind bars and probably face the death sentence for triple homicide and torture." Annie was shaking in my arms. "I'm getting you out of here. Can you walk at all?" I didn't expect her to be able to but I asked anyway. I helped her up but it was obvious her leg couldn't handle the stress of having any weight put on it. I scooped her up in my arms and made my way to the ladder when I heard a cold and psychotic laugh.

I see Annie duck her head into my chest and I see an old man in a nice suit and tie, with a white rose in the pocket of his coat. In his hand was a mug of something. I could probably assume it was lethal. "Well, well, well. Hello there. This is a pleasant surprise. I hadn't been expecting visitors."

This man was crazy. He looked to be in his sixties and was plump and could have passed for jolly looking, if it wasn't for his puffy, bloody lips and his cold snake eyes. "Allow me to introduce myself. I am Cornelius Snow." I open my mouth to make a comment about how sick this entire situation was but he interrupted me. "Finnick Odair. I know who you are. I know because you have managed to keep this girl alive. I noticed. I thought it would be fun to play a game with you. That day you chased me down after you found Miss Cresta here hurt; I didn't intend to kill her. I simply wanted bearings on you. It's a shame our little game is about to end though. I was going to poison her, let her die nice and slow, so I could watch the light leave her eyes but now I think a quicker death would be a better option. As soon as she is completely dead, I intend to kill you."

I start to run to the ladder but I can't reach it before he pulls out the gun and lets out a bang. I only hear the gunshot and hear the scream from Annie. She has been shot.

"Annie!" I put her down and cannot stop the tears from pouring down my face. She was shot on her right side, between her ribs and pelvis. The man known as Snow excuses himself with a chuckle, knowing I'm not going to leave Annie.

Annie has tears in her eyes. "Annie, Annie please stay with me. I just found you. You can't die." I place a kiss on her forehead. "Please, Annie. I love you." I am holding onto where she got shot, trying to keep the blood in, but it is not long until my hand is stained red.

"Hey, don't be upset." Her voice is small and weak, a little more than a whisper. "I- I love you too." My tears are falling onto her blood, sweat and dirt stained face, leaving little spots where they have fallen. "You know what, Fin? What I see?" I am silent for a moment, waiting for her to continue. If she keeps talking, she is still alive. "I see a beach. It is down in Florida, as far away from the snow you can get. The waves are lapping at our ankles and the water is a perfect teal color. It's beautiful Finnick."

Her eyes are starting to close so I panic. "Stay with me Annie. What else do you see?"

She is looking off in the distance, but I don't mind. At least she sees something, even if it isn't really there. "I see- I see a big white house. It is two stories and inside there is pale hardwood floors. All the furniture is white and teal. It is so beautiful. Instead of a fireplace in the house, there is a fountain waterfall. The waterfall is made of river rock and on the other side of the living room there are stairs made of a tropical salt water aquarium. It is so beautiful Fin." Her eyes are starting to close once again.

"Annie, what else? What else?" My voice is frantic. I'm losing her. I can't lose her. Not now. We've come so far.

"Finnick, I can't explain it all. You'll have to promise to take me there." She looks at me with the last of her energy.

"I promise. I'm going to take you there. I'll take you there as soon as I can." Satisfied, Annie closes her eyes. The tears are falling freely and I don't stop them. I take her pulse; her heart is still beating, but only just.

Snow walks back into the room with a cruel smile on his face. His eyes are a contortion of mock pity. "Aww, is she dead? I'm so sorry for your loss. I'm sure we can come up with some funeral arrangements. I'll leave a note saying you two wish to be buried in graves that are side by side? Does that sound good?"

I cannot stop myself from launching myself at him. He has another knife at the ready but I kick it out of his hands. I am about to kill him by strangling him when I hear the sound of people entering. The police have finally shown up.

Everything happens in a blur. The police have the man pinned down, placing handcuffs on him. He doesn't look like her is panicked. If anything, he looks like he enjoys being arrested. The EMT, including Katniss, has loaded Annie onto an ambulance and I follow. "Let me on, Katniss!"

Katniss shakes her head. "I can't let you, Fin. She is in critical condition."

"Please Katniss." She pats me on the back but shakes her head again before loading up onto the vehicle herself and driving away, the sirens on.

"No!" I start to run after them but Peeta stops me. He is holding me back, but just barely. The only reason he can hold me back is because he is bigger and stronger than me. He always has been. "No! Annie! Annie! She's going to die! Let me go, Mellark!"

Peeta shakes his head once again and waves over another emergency response doctor. Before I know what happens, something has been injected into my neck. I am loaded onto the other ambulance and am out.

**Special thanks to all my lovely favroiters: candyapple162, AmericaTamakiKyoya, AutumnWillow18, Catching Fireflies, FallenPetals712, FunnyPuffins1600, Mikey Jacquez, MiraOfTheBitterSea, cutegirlems, .3344, harrypotterlove16, karen357, Anarchy Girl, harrypotterlove16 and hungergameshgfan!**

**Thanks to my 17 followers as well! You guys are all amazing. **


	17. Chapter 17

**Last chapter before the epilogue. I'll hold out on goodbyes until tomorrow when I update this story for the last time. **

**TheWoman: Yup! Were you expecting Snow? And we'll see Annie's fate in this chapter...**

**Alexandra: Aww I'm sorry! (I'm glad you got so much emotion out of it though) I'm glad you liked**

**Mia: We'll find out this chapter...**

**Guest: I like the "Oh my fish" I'm loving the reaction to this! I'm glad everyone likes it. Honestly... I didn't even think of Thread... I tend to forget about him...**

**Meagan: I'm glad you like it so much! I can't believe I made so many people cry during this... I feel like a robot for not even having too much emotion while writing... Thanks! :)**

Chapter 17- March 5th, 2020 6:41PM

I awake to the sound of someone opening a door. I don't open my eyes but I just listen as they get closer to my bed. There is the rustling of what sounds like a wrapper being opened. There is the steady beeping of a heart monitor. I can only assume I am in the hospital. I reach to my neck and feel the cross shaped necklace that is still up there. I let out a small smile and finally allow myself to open my eyes.

I see an IV in my arm and a few wires attached to me. I am bandaged around my torso and chest but I do not recall ever getting hurt. It's probably because Annie was dying right in front of me. Annie. I don't know if she is alive or not.

The thought of her being dead hurts my heart. I just admitted I love her, and she said the same thing. She was missing for almost an entire month before I found her. I was so happy when I did find her, but the happiness was short lived when she got shot and almost died.

I remember only bits and pieces of what happened after that. I feel like the man did go to jail, but I am not sure. I finally look to the sound that woke me up. Gale is standing there changing the bag where the IV was attached. I let out a cough. He looks over and a smile erupts on his face. "You're awake!"

I shrug. "Umm, yeah? How long was I out?" I ask, rubbing the back of my head with my right hand, trying to avoid disturbing the IV in my left arm.

"You were out just over two days. You have had a heck of a time. You had two broken ribs, but that was your own fault. You started to chase the ambulance and Peeta had to stop you. You kept struggling and broke two ribs." I sigh and put my head in my hands.

"How was I so dumb?" Gale comes over and pats me on the back.

"Don't stress, man. I would have probably freaked out just as much if it was Johanna and me." He pauses and shrugs. "I probably would've freaked out actually, and Johanna would be dead and so would I. I have no idea how you were able to manage under that much pressure."

Before I can say anything Gale leaves the room and comes back with Johanna, Peeta and Katniss. "Hey guys."

Katniss looks at me with an uncharacteristically happy face. "You're awake!" She smiled and went to the hall and brought a series of gifts everyone brought, all unwrapped.

"Aww guys, you shouldn't have." When they put the presents on my lap I am laughing. "You seriously shouldn't have."

Katniss rolls her eyes. "You would have done the same for us. Just open your presents."

I open a small one that says it is from Johanna. Inside the paper is a box of sugar cubes. I laugh. I should've expected gag gifts. Still, it is sweet and for gag gifts I am sure they are excellent. "Thanks, Jo." I open the box and pop one into my mouth before looking at everyone. "Want a sugar cube?"

I reach for Peeta's next but he stops me. "Open mine last."

"Umm, alright." I smile at him and grab the box that is from Gale. I open the bag and inside is a series of Hello Kitty movies. "Wow, thanks Gale." I say sarcastically. Gale grabs one of the boxes and inside of them are some copies of the Avengers movies, Captian America, Thor and all the Iron Man movies, and of course, The Avengers, and The Amazing Spiderman. He knows I love watching the Marvel movies and I assume he borrowed them from his brother, copied them and got the boxes from some of his sister's old movies. "Thanks, man!" This present was really cool and I'm glad he got it for me.

"No problem, man. Vick didn't mind in the least letting me burn them." I smile and let myself grab Katniss' gift.

Inside her gift is a series of giftcards, Starbucks and several stores we don't have here in Panem. "Umm, thanks. I like it a lot, but you know we don't have any of those here, right?"

Katniss smiles. "I know. You'll see in a bit." I reach for Peeta's gift and open the small gift. Inside of the box are six plane tickets to New York City.

I shake my head. "I can't accept this. This is too much, Peeta." I understand what the gift cards are for now. "Thanks a lot though. I really appreciate it."

I try to give them back but he won't take them. "This is what the surprise that I told you on Christmas you would get. This is also your birthday present, so I hope you like it. Us five and Annie will be there two weeks this Summer. Take it and enjoy it."

"Where is Annie, by the way?" The others shoot each other uneasy glances. "Where is she?"

I start to get up and head to the door. Peeta beats me to it. "Maybe that isn't such a good idea, right now."

Gale and Johanna nod in agreement. "Maybe in a day or two." Gale says. "She isn't quite-"

I look him in the eyes. "I don't care, I need to see her." Gale, Johanna and Peeta still look uneasy.

Katniss moves Peeta out of the way. She nods understanding, and I am sure she is thinking of Prim. As I put my hand on the door Katniss seems to remember something. "Um, Finnick? How about some pants?"

I look down and realize I'm just wearing my medical gown and boxers. I rip the gown off and do the sexiest pose I can. "Why? Do you find this… distracting?" That seemed to break the tension in the room. Gale goes and grabs my blue jeans and Peeta fishes a shirt out from somewhere. I don't bother putting on shoes. I'm going to stay inside the hospital walls.

When I'm dressed my friends lead me down the hall until I am facing a room labeled "Sound Proof". "Why is she in a sound proof room?"

The others are quiet and I open the door. Inside there is Annie. She has her hands over her ears and is screaming. "Annie!" I run over to her and put my arms around her.

Gale comes over to me. "It's no use. No one has got her to calm down. She hasn't stopped since she came too yesterday."

I ignore him and keep my arms around her. "Annie, it's fine. He's not here. Snow isn't going to hurt you. Gloss isn't going to hurt you. I'm here. I'll always be here. I love you." I whisper all these things in her ear, knowing no one but she can hear. I keep my arms around her and she stops. "Hey beautiful."

"Finnick?" She smiles and I pull her in close. I tilt her chin up, and kiss her on the lips. I don't notice anything besides her, here, alive and out of danger with me.

**I hope y'all liked the last official scene. I am very sad this story is about through... I'll save the waterworks for tomorrow though. **

**Thanks so much to: Alexandra Jackson rocks Hades, AmericaTamakiKyoya, Anarchy Girl, AutumnWillow18, Catching Fireflies, FallenPetals712, FunnyPuffins1600, MeaganOneDirection, MiaBelles, Mikey Jacquez, MiraOfTheBitterSea, candyapple162, cutegirlems, .3344, harrypotterlove16, hungergameshgfan, karen357, koolchic4 and neverendingme for adding this story to their favorites!**

**Thanks to my 20 followers as well! **


	18. Epilogue

**Well... this is it. I can't believe we have finally reached the end. I loved this little story and don't know if I want to pursue a sequel yet. This will be the last time I am responding to all my lovely reviewers on this page. To those of you who review after this chapter, I will shoot you all a PM. I'm so sad to be leaving our little cast of characters. It was truly an adventure to write. **

**TheWoman: Thanks for being one of my most loyal reviewers! I appreciate it a lot. I loved writing those things into the story... I felt it needed to be there and I am so glad I included it. **

**Mia: I love them together! What made any of y'all think I was gong to kill off Annie? I only killed off Glimmer and Clove and Prim and... well I can see why y'all were worried. **

**Fireflies: Another loyal reviewer! Thanks so much! That part made me smile too. **

**Meagan: I'm glad you enjoyed it! Your stories are really good too! I don't know if you'll tear up... I kinda did.. **

**Alexandra: Another very loyal reviewer! Thanks a lot :) and yes, this is the part... **

Epilogue- December 9th, 2021 8:27AM

I can't help but feel somewhat sad as I load the last box into the Tundra. I know I'll be back in Alaska eventually. Everyone Annie and I know and love are here. Still, it's depressing knowing I'm never coming back here after a long day of work. I still can't help but feel excited though. Annie and I are moving to a beach in Florida. I have been saving up since I got out of the hospital over a year ago. Grandma Mags also left me a huge inheritance in her will. Over five million dollars were given to me. I was saving it for a special occasion like this.

Annie is crying as she hugs the Hawthornes, trying to awkwardly hug Johanna around her swollen belly, and hugging the newlywed Mellarks. "Y'all have to come down for Christmas to see the new house. We will probably have bought one by then." Annie doesn't know I bought us a two story house on the beach with a waterfall river rock fountain instead of a fireplace and stairs with an aquarium. Everyone else knows I bought the house, but have been keeping it a secret. The house with the location and renovations and furnishings were about one million dollars. I happily paid it. Only I know about the fortune my grandmother gave me.

When we have all said our goodbyes, Gale gets into the truck and drives Annie and me to the airport. He helps us check our boxes in. "It has been a blast, Gale."

Gale shrugs. "Why are you saying goodbye? You know as well as I do you two, Johanna and I, and Katniss and Peeta are going to Skype every night." He pauses and laughs. "You are also going to come up when Eloise is born."

Annie looks confused. "I thought y'all were having a boy? I thought y'all were going to name him Toby?"

Gale laughs. "We decided to not find out the gender. We're going to let me name her if it is a girl and let Johanna name him if it is a boy." Annie hugs Gale goodbye and he heads out.

Once we are good to go, we learn our flight has been delayed. I sigh. It means I have to wait that much longer to propose to Annie. I have one arm wrapped around Annie and the other in my pocket, messing with the little velvet box in my pocket. Somehow, I know she is going to say yes.

**The End! I will miss this story but I'm writing another story and was waiting until I finished the prologue for it before I updated to epilogue. It is another modern day story featuring our cast of characters. I would love for you all to check it out. I hate the fact that this is where I will probably say goodbye to some of you and I will miss all of you who don't come back for my next story, but for those who do, I'm excited! Well, overall, I am pleased with this story and love how it turned out. **

**Thanks so much to: Alexandra Jackson rocks Hades, AmericaTamakiKyoya, Anarchy Girl, AutumnWillow18, Catching Fireflies, FallenPetals712, FunnyPuffins1600, MeaganOneDirection, MiaBelles, Mikey Jacquez, MiraOfTheBitterSea, candyapple162, cutegirlems, .3344, harrypotterlove16, hungergameshgfan, karen357, koolchic4 and neverendingme who favorited. **

**Thanks a ton to my 20 (my goodness! 20!) followers!**

**Goodbye for now...**

**-Juliet**


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